South Africa: The South African Competition Tribunal has approved Walmart's £1.4bn acquisition of Massmart. The deal, which sees Walmart take a 51% stake in the company, was debated during a six-day tribunal. Despite South African government and union disquiet, the tribunal accepted a set of conditions proposed by the retailers. Three government departments are reportedly considering an appeal.
India: HyperCity is increasing its presence in India by launching a 76,000 sq ft store in Chennai. It plans to have 35 stores by March 2015. CEO Mark Ashman said the move marked HyperCity's commitment to providing an "authentic hypermarket experience". India's retail sector is worth an estimated £215bn and is growing 30%-40% per year.
Spain: Findus Group is aiming to become the dominant brand in Spain's frozen market after finalising deals for frozen vegetable brand Frudesa and ready meal brand Salto. The company said it would grow the ready meal and vegetable categories by increasing investment in innovation and marketing. Combined with its new buys, Findus now leads both categories with 24% of frozen vegetables and 14% of ready meals in the Spanish market.
USA: Publix, a chain of supermarkets based in Lakeland, Florida, is setting up a new coupon policy to stem the practice of 'extreme couponing', where shoppers redeem hundreds of coupons to get massive discounts on their shopping. Publix said it would reserve the right to limit quantities of items that could be purchased with coupons and each store would post a list of coupons it accepted. The chain has 100 stores in the Orlando area and over 250 in South Florida.
France: Carrefour shareholder Knight Vinke Asset Management has written a letter to the retail giant saying it should not sell off its non-European assets individually and that management should focus on improving business in the region. Knight Vinke owns 1.5% of Carrefour, which wants to spin off its Madrid-based discount arm Dia and 25% of its property arm.
India: HyperCity is increasing its presence in India by launching a 76,000 sq ft store in Chennai. It plans to have 35 stores by March 2015. CEO Mark Ashman said the move marked HyperCity's commitment to providing an "authentic hypermarket experience". India's retail sector is worth an estimated £215bn and is growing 30%-40% per year.
Spain: Findus Group is aiming to become the dominant brand in Spain's frozen market after finalising deals for frozen vegetable brand Frudesa and ready meal brand Salto. The company said it would grow the ready meal and vegetable categories by increasing investment in innovation and marketing. Combined with its new buys, Findus now leads both categories with 24% of frozen vegetables and 14% of ready meals in the Spanish market.
USA: Publix, a chain of supermarkets based in Lakeland, Florida, is setting up a new coupon policy to stem the practice of 'extreme couponing', where shoppers redeem hundreds of coupons to get massive discounts on their shopping. Publix said it would reserve the right to limit quantities of items that could be purchased with coupons and each store would post a list of coupons it accepted. The chain has 100 stores in the Orlando area and over 250 in South Florida.
France: Carrefour shareholder Knight Vinke Asset Management has written a letter to the retail giant saying it should not sell off its non-European assets individually and that management should focus on improving business in the region. Knight Vinke owns 1.5% of Carrefour, which wants to spin off its Madrid-based discount arm Dia and 25% of its property arm.
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