NewPrinces Group, the parent company of seafood brand Princes, has signed a binding agreement to acquire Carrefour Italia based on an enterprise value of EUR 1 billion (USD 1.17 billion).
The company announced the transaction on 24 July and said it fits its broader strategy for growth and vertical integration. NewPrinces Group was formed when Reggio Emilia, Italy-based Newlat Group acquired Princes in 2024, purchasing the company from Mitsubishi for GBP 700 million (USD 945 million, EUR 804 million).
"The acquisition of Carrefour Italia represents a significant milestone in our group's growth trajectory,” NewPrinces Group Chairman Angelo Mastrolia said in a release. “It is the result of a strategy built with rigor, industrial vision, and a long-term commitment. With this transaction, we are taking a decisive step toward vertical integration between production and distribution, strengthening our ability to create value along the entire supply chain.”
Carrefour Italia is the second-largest Italian food and beverage group by revenue, and according to NewPrinces Group, the company is also the leading operator in terms of employment, with 13,000 direct employees in Italy and over 18,000 employees worldwide. The company said a further 11,000 people are engaged in ancillary activities with external partners to the company.
All told, Carrefour Italia operates over 1,000 stores, distributed in a number of regions like Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, and Tuscany.
The acquisition is the latest in a streak of purchases for the company in 2025.
On 24 June, the company signed a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of Diageo Italy Operations, which had revenue of just under EUR 230 million (USD 270 million) in the fiscal year ending June 2024. Then, on 9 July, the company announced it was acquiring the Plasmon, Nipiol, BiAglut, Aproten, and Dieterba brands in a deal worth EUR 120 million (USD 141 million).
NewPrinces Group said with the signage of the latest agreement with Carrefour Italia, the company has passed from a revenue of EUR 750 million (USD 881 million) per year to a revenue of EUR 6.9 billion (USD 8.1 billion).
“We have made the bold decision to invest in a strategic asset for Italy, with the aim of relaunching a widespread retail network and maximizing synergies between industry and distribution,” Mastrolia said. “Our ambition is clear: to build a sustainable, solid, and long-term model that can offer concrete benefits to customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders alike.”
NewPrinces said the transaction will allow it to gain direct access to the end consumer, optimizing synergies between production and distribution and allowing it to strengthen its position in European markets.
The transaction will also see Carrefour reinvest EUR 237.5 million (USD 279 million) as a one-off contribution to “support its industrial relaunch and operational continuity.”
NewPrinces Group said that taking into account the global single lessee accounting standard IFRS 16 “and other extraordinary adjustments of the same nature,” coupled with Carrefour’s reinvestment, the resulting equity value of the transaction is just EUR 1.00 (USD 1.17).
Media reports leading up to the sale suggested rumors that Carrefour was considering offloading Carrefour Italia due to consistent underperformance.
In 2024, the Italian division saw a 5.3 percent decrease in sales to EUR 3.6 billion (USD 4.2 billion) and a loss of EUR 250 million (USD 293 million).
Based on a Carrefour review of its commitment to sustainable fishing and aquaculture, in 2022, the company overall sold over EUR 1 billion worth of seafood at its stores. What percentage of that came from Carrefour Italia was not specified.
