A deal for Taiwanese supermarket chain operator PX Mart Co Ltd (全聯實業) to acquire RT-Mart International Ltd (大潤發) could pose significant challenges for Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福), as the acquisition would help PX Mart extend its reach to the hypermarket business, according to a research economist.
“The acquisition deal is expected to boost competition in Taiwan’s hypermarket sector,” Commerce Development Research Institute deputy director-general Li Shyh-jane (李世珍) said. “It is possible that Carrefour might get nervous.”
On Friday night, PX Mart surprised the local retail industry by announcing the deal, which is expected to be completed in the middle of next year.
In a
Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) A deal for Taiwanese supermarket chain PX Mart to acquire hypermarket operator RT-Mart could pose big challenges for Carrefour as the acquisition will help PX Mart extend its reach to the hypermarket business, according to an economist.
Hypermarket chains generated NT$161.1 billion (US$5.75 billion) in sales in the first eight months of the year, up 3.6 percent year-on-year, as purchases of food and daily necessities increased amid a local COVID-19 outbreak, even though sales derived from their food courts dropped due to a nationwide ban on dine-in services, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report on Friday.
Additionally, as hypermarket chains accelerated development of their online shopping platforms this year, riding the post-pandemic trend of offline consumption transitioning to online, they saw Internet sales increase by 49.2 percent year-on-year during the eight-month period.
This was higher than
PX Mart Co Ltd (全聯實業) chairman Lin Ming-hsiung (林敏雄) on Wednesday said that both RT-Mart International Ltd (大潤發) and Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福) had approached him with sales offers.
Lin told local media on the sidelines of a public event that both companies had asked about the supermarket chain operator’s interest in buying them out. He declined to comment further as the topic is sensitive, local media reported.
Lin made the remarks at the inauguration of the Gallery of Taiwan Traditional Art (巧藝館) at the National Center for Traditional Arts’ (國立傳統藝術中心) Yilan campus. The gallery is sponsored by Pxmart’s Sunmake Cultural Foundation