Wal-Mart to increase stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Yihaodian
20 Feb 2012
Wal-Mart Stores today said that it will raise its stake in a fast-growing Chinese e-commerce firm Yihaodian to around 51 per cent, as the world's largest retailer aims to expand its presence in China's e-commerce market.
The retail king had acquired a minority stake in Yihaodian in May 2011, and said that its new investment in the company will take its stake to around 51 per cent, which is subject to local regulatory approval.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer did not provide any financial details to the deal.
Launched in July 2008 by Gang Yu and Junling Liu, both former senior executives at Dell Inc, Yihaodian provides over 75,000 types of food, general merchandise, maternal and child products, consumer electronics and garments.
It has a storage and logistics system in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and is building warehouses in Chengdu, in Southwest Sichuan province, in Northwest Zian and Northeast Shenyang, which are expected to open by the end of this year.
It also has a research and development team of 120 based in Shanghai and is building a 400-employee R&D centre in Wuhan that is expected to be completed this year.