Walmart to sell most of Japan’s Seiyu to KKR and Rakuten

TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S retailer Walmart Inc has agreed to sell most of Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu to investment firm KKR and e-commerce company Rakuten in a deal that values Seiyu at 172.5 billion yen ($1.65 billion), the companies said.

KKR will buy 65% of Seiyu and Rakuten will acquire a 20% stake while Walmart will retain 15%, the companies said in a joint statement.

The move will enable to Seiyu to accelerate its digital transformation, they said.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Lincoln Feast)