Abilio Diniz still defends merger with Carrefour on Twitter

By Beatriz Olivon

The entrepreneur Abilio Diniz tried unsuccessfully to unite Grupo Pão de Açúcar to the operation of Carrefour in Brazil. Today (9/8), with rumors that Walmart is negotiating with the French, Diniz tweeted that the operation was a good idea.

“I received a truck of criticism when proposing the merger with Carrefour. The idea was so good that Walmart threatened to buy it, “the businessman tweeted.

BNDES ‘participation in the project was highly criticized – the bank committed to inject up to 4.5 billion reais into the merged company, but it conditioned the money to the agreement between Pão de Açúcar and Casino. “About BNDES, I repeat: it was our big mistake,” said Diniz, who thanked the support comments received through the social network after his first tweet. “In fact, the deal could have been done with private funds, and not necessarily with the BNDES,” said the businessman.

Today, Valor Econômico newspaper reported, citing sources, that the US group was talking to the French company about a potential sale of its unit in Brazil. The Reuters news agency, also quoting sources, has said there is no bargaining. Companies do not comment on the matter.

In July, Abilio Diniz tried to unite Grupo Pão de Açúcar with the Carrefour operation in Brazil. The Casino network – which is a partner of Diniz in the holding company that controls the Group and has the right to control the company from 2012 – has opposed the deal.

The Casino made public demonstrations against the operation, which it described as “hostile” and “illegal.” Casino president Jean-Charles Nauori even met with BNDES president Luciano Coutinho to protest against the bank’s support for an operation he called “Abilio’s betrayal” and breach of contract.