Luc Vandevelde has resigned as chairman of Carrefour after it was disclosed that two new shareholders, Groupe Arnault and Colony Capital, had amassed a nearly 10% stake in the company. Luc Vandevelde is being replaced by Robert Halley of the Halley family, Carrefour's largest shareholder, the company said in a statement. Vandevelde had been under pressure from the Halley family, which has a 13% stake in Carrefour. In a statement, the board said it had no plans to change strategy or ditch the chief executive, José Luis Durán. The latter said keeping control over its stores was key to Carrefour's strategy, in an apparent bid to dampen down talk that Arnault's purchase of a stake with Colony Capital would force Carrefour to spin off property. "For me the control of the real estate is important, not only for Carrefour, but also for the food retail industry," Duran told reporters in a conference call.
