From AP, via globeandmail.com:
Wal-Mart is buying a 35-per-cent stake in a company that operates Trust-Mart, a major Chinese discount chain, as international competitors jostle for position in China’s rapidly growing retail market.
Wal-Mart may eventually take managerial control of Taiwan-based Bounteous Co., which operates 101 Trust-Mart stores in 34 major cities in China, the U.S. retail giant said in a statement Tuesday.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Newspapers last year speculated a takeover of Trust-Mart would cost Wal-Mart about $1-billion (U.S.).
The acquisition, if expanded as planned, would vault Wal-Mart past its rival, Carrefour SA of France, in the number of hypermarkets ” giant stores selling discounted food and household goods ” in China. [Full Text]
