Chinese supermarket chain Wumart Stores Inc has abandoned its plans to acquire outlets and an equity stake from its competitor C.P. Lotus Corp, according to The Wall Street Journal. Wumart issued a statement to Hong Kong bourse on Monday saying it is not pursuing the acquisition deal with C.P. Lotus, the report said.
A separate statement from the C.P. Lotus read, "Despite extensive negotiations in good faith, C.P. Lotus and Wumart were not able to make sufficient progress in reaching agreement on certain key terms for the proposed transactions."
Neither of the two statements elaborated on the reason for the failed deal, the report added.
In October, Beijing-based Wumart announced it had agreed to buy 46 C.P. Lotus stores in the country for HK$2.34 billion ($301.8 million). The deal would have added to Wumart's existing 145 outlets and 396 minimarts across China. Earlier, Wumart also said it planned to take a 10% stake in C.P. Lotus for HK$547.9 million. The latter also planned to buy around 14% in ownership stake in Wumart for HK$2.89 billion, the report explained.
The failed transaction would have consolidated the fragmented retail grocery market in China, The Wall Street Journal stated in its report.
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