CP Lotus, a division of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, has sold over half of its Chinese operations to supermarket firm Wumart, Inside Retail has reported.
The HK$2.3bn (US$302m) deal will see Wumart acquire 36 CP Lotus stores in Shanghai, Beijing and the remainder of the country, excluding those in the Guangdong and Hunan provinces.
The move is part of a share swap between the companies, which will see Wumart purchase 10 per cent of CP Lotus’ shareholdings at a cost of HK$548m (US$70m), while CP Lotus will pay HK$2.9bn (US$373m) for a 14 per cent share in Wumart.
“We hope to expand into new geographical markets, increase efficiency and reduce costs with this strategic alliance with CP Group and CP Lotus,” Wumart executive director and president Xu Ying said.
CP Lotus currently manages 55 stores across China, while Wumart had 541 stores in the Asian nation as 30 June this year.
