Retail in Asia

In Trends

Wumei paid $230 million for Lotte retail operator in China

A view of the Ciputra World 1, Lotte Shopping Avenue, shopping mall in Jakarta, Indonesia

South Korea’s Lotte Shopping (023530.KS) said that it has agreed to sell one of its six operators of hypermarket and supermarket stores in China to Wumei Holdings for about 248.5 billion won (165.08 million pounds).

SEE ALSO : Lotte Mart exits China, other units may follow

Last year, Lotte Shopping picked Goldman Sachs to manage the sale of its Lotte Mart stores in China, after most of them were shut down amid political tensions between the two countries. The retailer had aimed for the sale by the end of last year.

The group was particularly hard hit by the political fallout of its decision to hand over land for a U.S.-made missile defence system despite Chinese opposition.

In October, Seoul and Beijing agreed to move past the dispute.

SEE ALSO : Lotte decides to close some retail outlets in China amid diplomatic row

Lotte Shopping did not elaborate on whether there was progress on the sales of its remaining five Lotte Mart operators in China.

(Source: Reuters)