Tesco is to exit Taiwan as part of an asset swap with French retailer Carrefour.

As part of the deal, 11 Carrefour stores in the Czech Republic and four stores in Slovakia will be transferred to Tesco for a combined enterprise value of €189.4m.

In return, Carrefour will receive six Tesco stores and two sites in Taiwan, with an enterprise value of €132m.

The retailer has been struggling to find a foothold in Taiwan. In half-year results released two weeks ago, Tesco revealed that market share had increased in all of its 12 markets apart from Taiwan and Malaysia.

Speaking at the release of its results, Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, said that Taiwan remained “sub-scale” but had refused to confirm that the retailer was planning an exit.

Andrew Higginson, Tesco group finance and strategy director said: “This is a positive strategic move for Tesco which will allow us to focus on doing an even better job for customers in central Europe and our other Asian markets.”

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