Monoprix


Monoprix S.A. is a major French retail chain with its headquarters in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris. The company's stores combine food retailing with hardware, clothing, household items and gifts.

History

The company was founded in 1932 in Rouen by Max Heilbronn, a son-in-law of Theophile Bader, the founder of Galeries Lafayette.
In 1991, Monoprix acquired the Uniprix brand after Galeries Lafayette took over Nouvelles Galeries, the parent of Uniprix.
In 1997, the chain merged with French retailer Prisunic, in a deal that saw Casino Group acquire a 21% stake in the merged company.
In 2000, Galeries Lafayette, entered into an agreement to sell a 50% interest in Monoprix. Casino Group provided Galeries Lafayette with a put option to sell the remaining 50%. In 2012, after legal wrangling over the value of the put option, the shareholders of both firms agreed on a sale price of $1.6 billion. The Autorité de la concurrence, France's competition regulatory body, approved the transaction in 2013, with the condition that the merged group sell 58 stores. This allowed the deal to close, making Monoprix a wholly owned subsidiary of Casino Group.
The Monoprix group had more than 300 stores and employed around 20,000 people in France at the end of 2008. Monoprix is present in approximately 85% of all French towns with a population of more than 50,000. In 2005, Monoprix had €3.3 billion in revenue.