French multinational retailer Carrefour SA announced its intention to purchase a portfolio of malls from property company Klepierre SA. The two companies are now in talks for the deal, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal on its website.

Carrefour wants to gain more control over the European shopping market through this proposed acquisition deal. It had suffered blows to its sales after consumers trimmed down their shopping habits. The company intends to lure the thrifty customers back into the shopping environment through the improvements in its supermarkets and hypermarkets, said the report.

In 2000, Carrefour sold 150 malls to the property company in order to reduce its debts. The planned acquisition would partially reverse that previous transaction, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A company spokeswoman from the French retailer said that the deal has not yet been finalized and that Klepierre has not yet responded to them, the report stated.