Swiss-based food group Aryzta has completed the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in French food retailer Picard.

At the end of March, Aryzta announced it was in talks to acquire the stake for €446.6 million.

Picard sells mostly high-quality French produce through its 930 stores and commands 20 per cent of the country’s frozen food market

Picard has begun to expand internationally, opening stores in Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Japan. The acquisition will give Aryzta a direct retail presence on the ground for the first time.

Aryzta said it would treat the French group as an associate and that it expected the acquisition to make a net contribution of 3 per cent to underlying earnings per share (EPS), offsetting half of the negative 6 per cent impact of the Origin placement.