Carrefour Chairman Resigns as U.S. Firm Takes Stake

PARIS -- Luc Vandervelde, chairman of international retailer Carrefour here, resigned Wednesday shortly after it was disclosed that two new investors, including a U.S.-based private equity group, had amassed a 10% stake in the company. Robert Halley, a representative of Carrefour‘s largest shareholder, was nominated by the board to replace Vandervelde, the retailer said in a statement. Halley had been pressuring Vandervelde to resign, according to reports. The resignation was announced shortly after two new shareholders -- France‘s Groupe Arnault and Colony Capital, a Los Angeles private investor specializing in real estate -- disclosed they had taken a 9.8% stake in Carrefour.