French grocer Carrefour has agreed to buy 172 stores in Spain, cementing its place as country's second-biggest supermarket chain

• French grocer Carrefour has agreed to buy 172 convenience stores and hypermarkets in Madrid and southern Spain from Spanish chain SuperSol.
• Carrefour did not disclose a purchase price, but says the enterprise value of the stores — based on their market capitalization, debt, and balance sheet — is 78 million euros ($92.3 million).
• The deal, epxected to close in 2021, strengthens its position as Spain's second-biggest grocer.

Carrefour will buy 172 stores in Spain, the French grocer announced on Thursday.

The convenience stores and supermarkets are all currently owned by Spanish chain SuperSol. Most of the stores are in Madrid and Andalusia, a region in southern Spain, and around 90% are in large cities.

The deals will strengthen Carrefour's position as the second-biggest grocer in Spain, it said in a statement. The Carrefour Group operates more than 12,000 stores in more than 30 countries. Nearly 10% of these stores are in Spain.

Carrefour did not disclose a purchase price, but estimates that the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2021, has an enterprise value of 78 million euros ($92.3 million). This is the value of the stores based on their market capitalization, short-term and long-term debt, and balance sheet.

The 172 stores achieved net sales of around 450 million euros ($531 million) in 2019.

They will be converted into convenience stores, supermarkets, and branches of Supeco, a discount retailer operated by Carrefour in Spain, Poland, Romania, and, as of September 2019, France.

Spain's largest supermarket chain is Mercadona, which has 1,640 stores in the country and 15 in northern Portugal.