Walmart plans to acquire the remaining shares of Massmart! Its ambition to enter Africa is beginning to show!

Walmart has proposed to acquire the remaining shares of South African supermarket chain Massmart for 6.4 billion rand (US$377.6 million). Walmart acquired 51% of Massmart's shares in 2010 for US$2.3 billion.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Massmart's stock price has fallen 21% since the end of 2019. As profits continue to decline, Massmart has been forced to scale back its business and close some branches. But despite this, the company's financial performance has been sluggish.

The deal will provide Massmart with financial and operational support from Walmart to turn around the company, which has been unprofitable due to delivery restrictions from the pandemic, fierce competition in core markets and a challenging economic environment.

It is also reported that Jonathan Molapo will take over as CEO from 2023, replacing Mitchell Slape, who has been working at the company since 2019 and will officially step down on December 31, 2022.

Judith McKenna, CEO of Walmart International, said that in the future, Walmart will join hands with Jonathan Molapo to promote the development of Massmart's retail business, strengthen its commitment to customers, employees and partners, and provide people in South Africa with more of the goods and services they want.

It is understood that Walmart's move marks a new round of competition with Amazon in the South African market. Previously, Amazon announced that it would launch a site in South Africa in February 2023. Now, Amazon is looking for warehouse space in South Africa to ensure that the plan is implemented on time.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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