SAO PAULO/PARIS (Reuters) - Peninsula Participacoes Ltda, the investment vehicle of Brazilian billionaire Abilio Diniz's family, has raised its stake in Carrefour SA (PA:CARR), just weeks after the French retailer nominated the tycoon for a board seat.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sao Paulo-based Peninsula said it had bought an additional 2.98 percent stake in Carrefour through a web of unidentified controlled entities. It brings the Diniz family stake in Carrefour to 8.05 percent, it said.
"This investment is in line with the long-term strategy followed by Península, and reflects the belief in Carrefour's growth potential," it said.
Carrefour declined to comment.
Peninsula, which oversees more than 10 billion reais (2 billion pounds) in assets, would not say if it wanted other Carrefour board seats or if it planned to further raise its stake.
The latest purchase means the Diniz family is now Carrefour's third-largest shareholder, overtaking the 5.8 percent stake held by private equity firm Colony Capital, but still behind the 8.99 percent held by Groupe Arnault and the Moulin family's 11.51 percent.
Diniz and his family, who bought a stake in Carrefour's Brazilian unit more than a year ago, said on March 18 they were reviewing their earlier decision to maintain their stake in Carrefour SA unchanged.
The Carrefour Brazil deal was sealed late in December 2014, and marked Diniz's return to retailing. Diniz is the eldest son of the founder of GPA, Carrefour's arch rival in Brazil.
In 2011, Diniz fell out with French retailer Casino (PA:CASP), his then-partner at GPA, after he secretly sought to broker a merger with Carrefour. The deal ultimately fell through, allowing Casino to take a majority stake in GPA.
On March 18, Carrefour said it would ask shareholders meeting on May 17 to back the nomination to the board of Diniz, who has been granted observer status on the board since January..
At 0932 GMT, Carrefour shares were up 3.68 percent at 24.39 euros, outperforming their European sector (SXRP), which gained 1.55 percent.