Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (DFIB) is spending $925 million to acquire a 20% stake in Yonghui Superstores Co. in order to gain greater access to the Chinese consumer market. As of the end of 2013 Yonghui owned and operated 288 hypermarkets and supermarkets across 17 provinces of China. DFIB will collaborate with Yonghui in fresh food processing, store development, and procurement. The hypermarket industry is projected to grow by 39% to 862 billion yuan (US$140 billion) by 2016, and Yonghui is the fifth largest hypermarket company in China with 4.6% market share in 2013. This deal will enable DFIB to further diversify its sales as the Southeast Asian market becomes more competitive. Walmart has announced it was adding 110 stores in China by 2016 and remodeling or closing others as it overhauls its business in the country, and UK-based Tesco Plc announced in October 2013 it was spending $558 million to join its stores in China in a joint venture with Hong Kong-listed China Resources Enterprise.
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