Qatar's Al Meera sets up JV with French retail giant

Qatar's Al Meera Holding Company on Wednesday said it has entered into a joint venture agreement with French retail giant Casino Guichard-Perrachon.

Under the agreement, both companies have agreed to set up a joint venture to manage proposed retail partnerships, according to a statement published on the Qatar Exchange website.

The statement said the joint venture will initially manage projects in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Jordan, without giving further details.

The JV will be registered under the name ALGE Retail Corporation and will be based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Casino will hold 49 percent and Al Meera 51 percent of new company.

The Casino Group is one of the world's leading food retailers, with €29.1bn euros in consolidated net sales and 11,663 stores worldwide.

Casino said in December that it had signed a franchise deal with Al Meera to open five Geant hypermarkets in Qatar and Oman over the next three years.

Al Meera will open and operate three hypermarkets in Qatar and at least two in Oman under the Geant and Geant Easy brands, said Retail Arabia, the master franchise-holder for Geant in the GCC.