(Bloomberg) -- French investigators have dropped a decade long probe into allegations of corporate wrongdoing by members of the billionaire Mulliez dynasty and the vast network of companies that make up the family’s global retail empire.
The investigation related to the billionaire clan’s closely held investment company, Association Familiale Mulliez, which has more than 800 shareholders who have family ties to 93-year-old patriarch Gerard Mulliez. An AFM representative confirmed the dismissal of allegations against both managers and companies within the structure.
The probe failed to turn up evidence of alleged breach of trust and tax fraud, according to a person with direct knowledge of the case. The original complainant has appealed the decision, said the person, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public.
AFM’s biggest assets are stakes in the Auchan SpA supermarket chain and sports retailer Decathlon SA.
The decision comes after a protracted investigation into the corporate structure built up into one of the country’s wealthiest and most opaque family fortunes. The Mulliez clan is behind a myriad of closely held store brands that also include Leroy Merlin, Saint-Maclou and auto repair chain Norauto which have an estimated €100 billion ($108 billion) in combined annual sales and some 650,000 employees worldwide.
The family has long tried to avoid the spotlight, but the investigation has led to a series of media reports over the years.
The decision to drop the probe comes at a time when Auchan has come under increasing competitive pressure. Its decline in profitability, especially in France, Russia and Ukraine, “poses a long-term threat to the group’s creditworthiness,” according to an August 2024 report by S&P, which lowered its rating of Auchan’s holding company, Elo.
Gerard Mulliez opened the first Auchan store in 1961 in the northern French town of Roubaix, near the Belgian border. He built the empire up over decades, expanding across France and abroad, adding stores and restaurants that were started by family members.
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