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British supermarket chain Tesco sells its 20 % stake in Chinese joint venture Gain Land, completing its exit from the Asian country. Thailand and Malaysia are to follow suit.
Retreat
Gain Land’s majority shareholder, China Resources Holdings (CRH), pays 275 million pounds (330 million euros) for Tesco’s stake in the joint venture that was only established in 2014. An exit from China allows the retailer to continue the simplification of its structures and focus on its core business, Retail Gazette writes. If all goes well, the transaction will be completed by 28 February.
Tesco’s retreat from China started in 2014, when it closed a deal with to form a joint venture in which the British retailer put its 131 Chinese stores and took a minority stake. CRH added its 3,000 Vanguard stores to the mix. When completed, China will be the fourth country from which Tesco has retreated fully, following Japan (2012), South Korea (2015) and Turkey (2016).
Only recently, the world’s tenth biggest retailer also confirmed it considers an exit from Thailand and Malaysia as well, hinting at interest from a potential buyer for its 1967 stores in Thailand and 74 in Malaysia. The company’s Southeast Asian branch still has over 60,000 employees. If this deal is confirmed, Tesco will only have a presence left in Europe (Czechia, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom)
