Moscow - French retailer Carrefour will bid for a majority stake in Russian supermarket chain Seventh Continent, a Russian newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed banker close to the deal.

Europe's biggest retailer will offer to buy Russian businessman Alexander Zanadvorov's stake of 74.8 per cent of the retail chain, Vedemosti daily said.

Media earlier reported that Zanadvorov was looking for a buyer after being issued a margin call on over 550 million dollars in debt from Deutsche Bank, news agency Interfax reported.

The newspaper's source said Carrefour would seek to finalize the deal in two to three weeks and was in talks with Seventh Continent's other minority shareholders. (dpa)