South Korea: Authorities approve Korea Seven’s Ministop acquisition
The Korean Fair Trade Commission has greenlit the offer of the Lotte Group to the retailer’s parent company and gave the go-ahead for the firm to become the third player in the convenience market.
Korea Seven, a subsidiary of the Lotte Group in South Korea, has been given permission to advance in the purchase of the Ministop Korea convenience brand. The Korean Fair Trade Commission has allowed the manager of the 7-Eleven brand in the country to take over its stores in the market.
As reported by the local news site Pulse News, the authority declared that the transaction represented a very small threat to the market competition and gave its approval. In addition, the entity stated that the merger will cement Korea Seven’s position in the market and thus enhance consumer benefits via a three-way competition between retailers.
The deal began back in January, when the Lotte Group made a 313.3 billion won, roughly $257 million, offer to Japan’s Aeon Group, Ministop’s parent company, to acquire the brand. With this acquisition, the company projects to become the third convenience retail brand in the country.
Korea Seven will convert all the Ministop stores into 7-Eleven outlets once the deal is finished. The firm currently operates a total of 11,173 stores nationwide while Ministop has 2,602. The total number of locations will add up to 13,775, a figure that will get it closer to the top two companies: GS25, which manages 15,453 stores, and BGF Retail’s 15,816 CU stores.
