Wal-Mart to Boost Stake in Chinese Web Site

Wal-Mart plans to add to its investment in Chinese e-commerce Web site Yihaodian, giving it a controlling interest.

Author:: TheStreet Staff
Publish date:: Feb 20, 2012 3:46 PM EST

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (TheStreet) -- Wal Mart Stores (WMT) - Get Report says it plans to boost its investment in Chinese e-commerce Web site Yihaodian to give it a controlling stake.

If approved by the Chinese government, the deal will increase Wal-Mart's stake in the holding company of Yihaodian to 51%.

The Wall Street Journal

reported that the stake is currently 18%.

The Chinese e-commerce site was launched in July 2008 and now has 5,400 employees, Wal-Mart said Sunday evening in

a news release

"This investment further enables Walmart to deliver a superb customer experience to Chinese consumers that are already connected to the world through smart phones and social media," said Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global ecommerce. "We are very impressed with Yihaodian's strong management team, solid competence in supply chain management and, like Walmart, they are committed to outstanding service to their customers."

Shares of Wal-Mart closed Friday up 44 cents at $62.48. U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.