PARIS (Reuters) - Supermarket retailers Carrefour (PA:CARR) and Tesco (L:TSCO) said on Monday that they expected their previously-announced purchasing alliance to become operational in October.
The companies first announced the tie-up in July, with French company Carrefour joining up with UK peer Tesco to form a global purchasing alliance to demand better terms from major suppliers, in the latest attempt by the industry to drive down costs.
With combined annual sales of $170 billion (£130.8 billion), the partnership is designed to secure a better deal from the likes of Nestle (S:NESN), Procter & Gamble (N:PG), Unilever (L:ULVR), Danone (PA:DANO) and others to help the French and British groups to compete hard on price.