Wal-Mart Bids to Buy 51% of Massmart
BENTONVILLE, Arkansas (
) --
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Walmart Inc. Report
on Monday offered to acquire 51% of South Africa's
Massmart Holdings
for 148 rand ($20.78), or about $2 billion.
Wal-Mart, in a statement, said the offer represents a 19.2% premium to the 30-day weighted average price on Sept. 23, the last trading day prior to when the companies announced they were first in talks.
Massmart's board has approved Wal-Mart's offer.
Massmart will continue to be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, addressing a concern of some major Massmart stockholders that led Wal-Mart to revise an earlier bid to buy all of Massmart.
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Johannesburg-based Massmart runs about 290 big box, pharmacy and electronics stores in 13 African countries, mostly in South Africa, according to the
Associated Press
.
"We continue to be excited by the opportunity to invest in Massmart's business and to accelerate its growth and expansion in South Africa," said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart International, in a statement. "The more we learn about South Africa and the surrounding countries the more we are convinced that this is an important region with attractive growth characteristics."
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
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