French multinational retailer Carrefour has signed a term sheet with Tencent and Yonghui for a potential investment in its China unit.

The retailer has also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent in China.

This potential investment will bring together Carrefour’s global retail experience, along with Tencent’s technological expertise and Yonghui’s operational knowledge, especially with regard to fresh products.

“Following the completion of this investment, Carrefour will become the largest shareholder of Carrefour China.”

Following the completion of this investment, Carrefour will become the largest shareholder of Carrefour China.

Carrefour and Tencent also signed a preliminary agreement for strategic business cooperation in China.

This cooperation is expected to enhance Carrefour’s online visibility, as well as traffic of its offline and online retail activities. It will also benefit from Tencent’s digital and technological expertise to develop new smart retail initiatives.

Tencent will also develop retail services offered on its social platforms and promote Weixin and Weixin Pay, Cloud computing and other services within the Carrefour ecosystem.

The deal will cover aspects regarding cooperation on data, smart retail, mobile payment, in-store experience and data analysis to boost Carrefour China’s customer traffic.

The cooperation and investment are subject to further diligence and agreement of the companies on the terms of a definitive documentation.