Colony Capital has exchanged contracts to acquire French furniture and electrical store firm BUT from Europe’s third largest electrical retailer, Kesa.
Not content with taking control of top flight football club Paris Saint-Germain and increasing its investment in hotel group Accor earlier this month, Colony Capital is acquiring exposure to approximately 60 freehold stores by acquiring BUT from Kesa Electricals for €550 million ($817 million), in conjunction with two other parties.
Colony is joining forces with private equity firm Merchant Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs to acquire the company.
BUT operates 117 stores in France, roughly half of which are owned freehold.
It is the latest in a string of investments in France by Colony, which is led in Europe by Sebastien Bazin. It owns a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain, more than 10 percent of Accor and is a significant shareholder in hypermarket group Carrefour, where Bazin has a seat on the main board.
Among the various conditions for completion of the BUT acquisition is that BUT proves title to no less than €53 million worth of freeholds, said Kesa.
The deal is scheduled to complete in March.
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