China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has given conditional Walmart approval for a bid to increase its share in Yihaodian, the country’s largest online retailer.
The MOC approval will allow Walmart to increase its stake in the company that owns Yihaodian’s online retailing business from 17.7 per cent to 51.3 per cent, reported Xinhua.
The acquisition will give Walmart increased access to China’s rapidly growing online retail sector, which grew 51.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 year on year. China’s online shopping transactions hit Yn538bn in the year to June, the Xinhua report said.
Yihaodian offers a full range of products online, including food, and boasted more than 18m users in May 2011.
MOC holds concerns the move may restrict competition in China’s online retail market, however, and has placed several conditions on the acquisition.
The business will be limited to online retailing, excluding other online value-added services, and will not be able to use its online platform to provide services for other parties involved n the deal, the MOC said in a statement.
“Yihaodian fully respects and welcomes the MOC’s decision,” the company said in a statement. “We have maintained high-speed growth since launching in 2008 and will create greater value for consumers as our partnership with Walmart deepens.”
