TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Trial Holdings said on Wednesday it would spend 382.6 billion yen ($2.55 billion) to acquire the Seiyu supermarket chain controlled by U.S. private equity fund KKR.
Trial said in a release it would use existing cash and newly arranged bank borrowings to purchase Seiyu and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
KKR bought a 65% stake in Seiyu from Walmart in 2021, before acquiring an additional 20% stake from Rakuten in 2023, the fund said in a separate release. Walmart will also sell its 15% stake to Trial, KKR said.
Major retailers including Aeon and Don Quijote-owner Pan Pacific International Holdings were other bidders for Seiyu, the Nikkei newspaper reported last month.
($1 = 149.8100 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
