Spanish retailer DIA has announced the completion of the sale of its China-based affiliates, Shanghai Dia Retail and DIA (Shanghai) Management Consulting Services, to Nanjing Suning.Com Supermarket Ltd.
In a statement, the retailer said that the sale of 100% of the shares in its businesses has now been formally sold to Nanjing Suning.Com, having cleared the relevant antitrust and regulatory hurdles.
Formal Exit
'The completion of the Transaction implies the exit of the DIA group form the Chinese market,' it said.
Prior to the sale of its operations in China, DIA operated nearly 400 franchised stores in Shanghai. In 2013, it closed some 160 stores it operated in Beijing, citing continued losses.
As of the close of last year, DIA's Shanghai operations had negative equity of around €28.8 million, compared to €43.1 million in 2016, according to El Economista.
Nanjing Suning Supermarket is part of the Suning Group, which also owns football club Inter Milan among other interests.
Sales Performance
In July, DIA said that its half-year sales were 'weaker than expected', as the group posted a like-for-like sales decline of 0.4% in its core Iberia operations.
Gross sales at the group stood at €4.6 billion, which was 1.8% higher in like-for-like terms, compared to the same period the previous year.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
