[Courtesy of Iclickart]
Lotte Group, South Korea's retail giant, is in negotiation with foreign companies to sell its discount store chain in China, having decided to withdraw from that market following Beijing's retaliation over Seoul's decision to deploy a US anti-missile system, industry sources said.
Lotte has begun talks with five to 10 foreign investors who expressed interest in Lotte Mart's infrastructure and assets in China via its lead manager Goldman Sachs, according to the sources. Thailand's major retailer Charoen Pokphand Group and other firms from the United States and Europe are known to have had contacts with Goldman Sachs so far.
About 80 percent of the 112 Lotte Mart stores in China have been closed for more than six months following a series of economic measures taken by China against Lotte's land-swap deal with the Seoul government to host the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
