Wal-Mart is reported to have agreed to buy a Chinese retail chain for about $1 billion in a move that would give the world's largest retailer the biggest food and department store network in China.
If approved by Chinese regulators, the deal to buy Trust-Mart, a closely held Taiwan company with 100 supercentres in China, would push Wal-Mart past Carrefour for the most supercentres in China. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman declined to comment.
Supercentres, also known as hypermarkets, are giant stores that sell a wide range of general food and merchandise. Wal-Mart beat Carrefour out in bidding for the Trust-Mart stores, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Established in 1997, Trust-Mart employs more than 30,000 people at its hypermarkets in over 20 provinces across China.
Wal-Mart has made no secret of its ambitions in China. The retailer has said that its operations there could be as big as its US business in 20 years. Wal-Mart currently has more than 3,700 US stores, but only about 60 in China.
