Auchan Retail Ukraine, which operates a chain of 11 hypermarkets in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhia, and Kryvy Rih, signed an agreement with the Ukrainian distributor Caravan on the acquisition of its assets, namely nine Ukrainian-based hypermarkets, which employ 3,300 people.

"Auchan Retail Ukraine will strengthen its presence in Kyiv, and will also be present in four new cities - Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zhytomyr and Chernivtsi thanks to the acquisition of the chain," the buyer said in a statement on Tuesday.

The total area of the Caravan hypermarkets is 58,000 square meters, the statement said.

Auchan also says that this deal will also develop its multi-format structure. It indicates that the acquisition has already been approved by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.