Wal-Mart has put in an offer for Chilean retailer Distribución y Servicio (D&S) at US$0.41 per share, a purchase that would make the US giant the largest grocer in Chile.
The company will only go through with the offer if it can attain a controlling stake of 50.01 per cent, the Wall Street Journal reported Wal-Mart as saying, which would cost the company US$1.4bn at the offered share price.
The tender offer is set to begin on Tuesday, and D&S’s controlling shareholder, the Ibáñez family, has already agreed to put up 23 per cent of its shares.
Under an agreement the Ibáñez family plans to undertake with Wal-Mart, D&S will retain its current management, workers and store brands.
Distribución y Servicio has more than 140 stores, and posted a net income last year of US$82.9m.
