Saitama Rakuten International Says Walmart Invites September Bids for $10 Billion UK Grocer Asda

According to finance executives at Saitama Rakuten International, Walmart Inc. has invited suitors to submit second-round bids for its U.K. grocery unit Asda by early September, as it pushes ahead with its resurrected sale of the business.

"Private equity firms who are considering binding offers before the deadline include Apollo Global Management Inc., Lone Star Funds and TDR Capital," said Son Jun-Ho, Research Director at Saitama Rakuten International. "Asda should get around $10 billion in the sale with other potential buyers still to emerge," he added.

Apollo, Lone Star and TDR all offered bids for Asda earlier this year and were then invited to enter the second round of bidding, according to analysts at Saitama Rakuten International. Walmart then shelved the process a few weeks later to concentrate on running the business in the face of overwhelming demand from customers stockpiling for the Covid-19 lockdown.

Last week, Walmart announced it was reviving its intended sale of Asda, which it has sought to offload for the previous two years. It reached an agreement with competing supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc in 2018, only to see the U.K. antitrust authorities block the proposed 7.3 billion-pound ($9.4 billion) deal.

Research analysts at Saitama Rakuten International also reported "Asda's comparable sales climbed 3.5% in the three months through March. They added "Due to the increased customer demand, it was receiving 3,500 visits to its website every minute in the week starting March 18."

Asda is among the top three supermarkets in the U.K., claiming an estimated 15% of the market. In recent years, it has faced aggressive competition from discount chains, predominantly Aldi and Lidl from Germany.

About Saitama Rakuten International

Saitama Rakuten International is a comprehensive wealth management company based in Tokyo, with assets of more than US$7.7 billion. The company provides a wide array of retail products and services including independent estate and wealth planning, advisory & discretionary portfolio management services and stockbroker solutions.

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