It was the absence of a comment that made the answer guessable. Asked if he is in talks with the French at Carrefour to purchase assets in Poland, the head of the operation in that country, Luís Araújo, said with just a smile: “We are not going to comment.”
Before that, he had urged journalists to forward the question to bosses at the French retailer. The story is not new and since last year it has taken even more shape: Carrefour is considering selling the assets it has in Poland – around 800 stores and 40 shopping centers – and hired, at the end of last year, JP Morgan to advise on the operation.
The potential sale comes as part of a global reorganization of the Carrefour group, which intends to refocus on key markets such as France, Spain, Belgium and Brazil, after selling assets in other geographies such as Romania (where it sold the entire operation earlier this year for more than 800 million euros) and Italy.
The Polish Ministry of Agriculture even considered the acquisition of Carrefour’s assets through the state-owned Krajowa Grupa Spozywcza (KGS), with the aim of strengthening food sovereignty and entering retail on a large scale.
Biedronka, said Luís Araújo, “is looking at all market movements carefully.”
“There are very interesting locations in the country. I think Biedronka could be the solution for many of Carrefour’s assets, and we always look at all market movements”, he repeated.
There are, for now, no estimates of how much Carrefour’s operation in Poland could be worth.
Jerónimo Martins has a strategic plan defined until 2030 and does not exclude new acquisitions – even to continue growing in sales, as is its objective – but those responsible are also clear in relation to the amounts they are willing to allocate: they could leave the investment plan, which is estimated at around one billion euros for this year – “it depends on the value of the acquisition”, smiled Pedro Soares dos Santos – or they could add to this predicted amount.
It is worth remembering that Poland is the market that has accounted for more than 50% of the total investment value that JMT has made annually, and is also the largest contributor to the group’s results. The retailer entered that country 30 years ago and, in 2025, entered Slovakia with the same brand, Biedronka. It is also in this region that he is building an innovative logistics center, which should serve as a reference for the other companies in the group.
The revelation of interest in Carrefour’s assets was made during the press conference that followed the presentation of the Pingo Doce owner’s annual results. Jerónimo Martins reported growth in its net profit and its sales last year, and has an ambitious store opening plan for 2026.
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