Source: AFP
US retail giant Walmart announced Monday that it would raise its stake in Chinese online shopping company Yihaodian to a majority 51 per cent as it seeks more access to China’s massive market.
The transaction comes four months after Walmart’s former China chief executive quit following a scandal over falsely labelled pork.
Walmart gave no value for the deal, which is subject to Chinese regulatory approval.
In May last year, Walmart said it had bought a minority share in Yihaodian ‒ which offers online grocery sales as well as other goods ranging from electronic products to clothing ‒ but gave no size for the stake.
“This investment further enables Walmart to deliver a superb customer experience to Chinese consumers that are already connected to the world through smartphones and social media,” said Neil Ashe, president of Walmart Global eCommerce.
Walmart has more than 370 stores in 140 Chinese cities.
Authorities last year temporarily shut down 13 Walmart shops in the south-western metropolis of Chongqing for selling pork falsely labelled as organic, detaining staff and fining the company more than US$420,000.
Walmart said this month that Greg Foran ‒ a former senior executive of Australian supermarket chain Woolworths who has worked in the retail industry for 30 years ‒ will take the helm next month after his predecessor, Ed Chan, quit in October citing personal reasons.
Yihaodian, set up in 2008, says it has logistics centres in five major Chinese cities and delivers to more than 30 cities across the country.
