19 October 2012 Last updated at 06:32 ET

Carrefour shares up on Colombia sale to Cencosud

Carrefour

Last Updated at 17 May 2013, 11:35 ET *Chart shows local time

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Shares in Carrefour have jumped almost 7% after the French retail giant announced the sale of its Colombian business to Chilean group Cencosud for 2bn euros ($2.6bn; £1.6bn).

The world's second biggest retailer operates 72 hypermarkets and 20 other stores in the country, with annual sales excluding petrol of 1.5bn euros.

The sale is part of a strategy to pull out of non-core markets.

Carrefour has already said it is exiting Singapore and Greece.

"This transaction is in line with Carrefour's new strategy of focusing on geographies and countries in which it holds or aims to develop a leading position," the company said in a statement.

The retailer has also shut a number of stores in Europe as sales fall during the economic downturn.

Cencosud already has operations in Chile, Brazil, Peru and Argentina, as well as in Colombia since 2007.

"Not only are we acquiring a great operation, but we're also entering an extraordinary market, which wouldn't have been possible via organic growth," said Cencosud president Horst Paulmann.

The deal should go through by the end of this year, the companies said.