By common agreement, Groupe Auchan and Max Hypermarkets end their partnership in India. The 12 stores will no longer operate under the Auchan banner by January 2015 at the latest.
PARIS, 2014-8-12 — /EPR Retail News/ — In August 2012, Groupe Auchan and Max Hypermarkets signed a License Agreement in which Groupe Auchan offered the right to its brand and access to its know-how to benefit Max Hypermarkets, both for its existing and its future stores, in so far as that is possible in the context of Indian law. This license agreement covered the whole of India.
In September 2012, the Cabinet of Government of India announced some measures which permitted, under certain conditions, direct foreign investments in multi-brand retail. Nevertheless this liberalization was not applying to the full Indian sub-continent and so excluding some of the hypermarkets already under the Auchan license.
Thus, Groupe Auchan and Max Hypermarkets continued deep into 2013 to look into the possibilities of creating a Joint Venture to facilitate Groupe Auchan investment in India, which could comply with Indian FDI regulations. Despite their best efforts, the Parties could not facilitate this proposition.
Therefore, by common agreement, the 12 Max Hypermarkets stores will no longer operate under the Auchan banner by January 2015 at the latest.
However, Groupe Auchan, based on its first experience of the Indian market, which proved the relevance of its hypermarket retailing model for Indian consumers, remains committed to long term investment in a market of 1.2 billion inhabitants. The Indian-based team still continue to explore the best ways to develop the hypermarket business model and the Auchan brand in this huge country, especially in the areas where foreign investments are liberalized.