US giant Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest discount store chain, will sell its South Korean business to local retail group Shinsegae for 825 billion won (US$874 million), officials said yesterday.
Shinsegae, which operates discount chain E-Mart as well as department stores, said it would buy all 16 outlets run by Wal-Mart in South Korea in a bid to expand its discount store business.
Under the deal, the stores will be absorbed by E-Mart and operate under the E-Mart brand name. The US chain has invested 812 billion won since it opened its first store in South Korea in 1998.
The deal, which requires government approval, came a month after French retail giant Carrefour sold its Korean unit to local clothing-maker and distribution group Eland for US$1.9 billion.
Shinsegae's stock rose 6.6 percent to 460,000 won as investors cheered its expansion drive while rival Lotte Shopping fell 4.6 percent to 17,500 won while the overall market was down 2.46 percent.
The retail firm is a part of the Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest conglomerate.
E-Mart said the deal would consolidate its leading position in the crowded domestic market where competition has forced the exit of foreign rivals.
As a result, E-Mart will increase the number of outlets to 102 including seven in China. E-Mart will absorb all 3,356 Korean workers hired by Wal-Mart.
"With the acquisition of Wal-Mart stores, we will secure the ground for our stable business at home. This will also help us step up our operations in China," Shinsegae president Koo Hak-seo told reporters.
E-Mart currently accounts for 34 percent of South Korea's discount store market.
Lotte Mart, a unit of Lotte Shopping, was second with 19 percent, followed by Samung Tesco Homeplus, a joint venture between Samsung Group and Britain's Tesco Plc and E-Mart, with 14 percent.
Homeplus overtook Carrefour as the country's third-largest discount store chain in 2003.
Wal-Mart entered South Korea in 1998, but its business here has been sluggish, posting a net loss of 9.9 billion won last year. Its market share last year stood at four percent.
Announcing its withdrawal earlier this year, Carrefour said it would shift its focus to China after 10 years of lackluster performance in South Korea.
After opening its first store in 1996, Carrefour Korea has invested some 1.5 trillion won over the past 10 years but had never managed to make real headway against its local rivals.
Wal-Mart also attributed its withdrawl from South Korea to competition and poor sales but vowed to maintain its procurement unit here for global sourcing.
The exit of Wal-Mart and Carrefour, the world's first and second largest retail groups, comes amid growing anti-foreign sentiment stirred by big profits some foreign investors have realized in recent years.
But Chung Sye-kyun, minister of commerce industry and energy, said South Korea welcomed foreign investment and was streamlining investment procedures in a bid to attract more.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
RSS