By Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) – Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard has dropped its bid to acquire European retailer Carrefour SA after its takeover proposal ran into stiff opposition from the French government, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The decision to end merger talks came after a meeting on Friday between French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Couche-Tard’s founder and chairman, Alain Bouchard, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is confidential.
Both Couche-Tard and Carrefour declined to comment.
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London; additional reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic in Paris and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Leslie Adler)
