Carrefour denies report it looking for new chief

PARIS (Reuters) - French supermarket chain Carrefour (CARR.PA) denied on Saturday that it had hired headhunters to seek a replacement for Jose Luis Duran, its chief executive.

The Financial Times quoted an unnamed prominent businessman as saying he had been approached by a headhunter before a July 28 shareholder meeting called to approve a simplification in the management structure.

A spokesman for the board of the world's second-biggest retailer said: "The board of Carrefour denies having hired a headhunting firm to replace Jose Luis Duran, whom it has just named chief executive following the July 28 shareholder meeting."

Carrefour used to have a supervisory board, headed by Amaury de Seze, and a management board, headed by Duran. Under the new structure there is a single board of directors, whose chairman is De Seze and of which Duran is not a member.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Ron Askew)