Trade: Retail giants focus China (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-06-05 14:59
The world's major retailers, facing reports that the China market is becoming
saturated, are increasingly turning to mergers and acquisitions to advance their
expansion plans.
Given the difficulty of finding a good location to build a new store from the
ground up, the big retailers from overseas will follow industry trends in other
sectors and start snapping up existing businesses, industry analysts said.
The most recent acquisition involved Best Buy Co Inc, which bought a majority
stake in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co Ltd - China's fourth-largest home
appliance chain. With the deal, Best Buy became the first foreign home-appliance
chain to acquire a Chinese outfit. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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