Lotte to acquire Ministop Korea for ￦313 billion

A man walks past a Ministop branch in Seoul [NEWS1]

Lotte Corp. announced Friday that it signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire 100 percent of Ministop Korea from Japan's Aeon Group for 313.4 billion won ($262.7 million).

Combined its existing 7-Eleven franchise, the acquisition cements Lotte's position as the third-largest convenience store operator in Korea by number of stores.

The price is above market expectations, which projected the convenience store would be sold for around 200 billion won.

The acquisition will be finalized on Feb. 28, according to a regulatory filing.

Lotte Corp. owns 79.66 percent of Korea Seven, the licensee that runs the 7-Eleven convenience store chain in Korea.

The company announced it will be acquiring some 2,600 convenience store branches of Ministop Korea and its 12 logistics centers. According to a Lotte spokesperson, no decision has yet been made on whether the Ministop stores will be absorbed into the 7-Eleven franchise.

BGF Retail is the largest company in the Korean convenience store market, with 15,700 branches of its CU franchise. GS Retail is second with 15,400 GS25 stores.

Lotte had 11,750 7-Eleven branches as of 2021, with the acquisition of Ministop taking it up to 14,350.

Shinsegae is in fourth place with 5,800 Emart24 branches. The retail group reportedly also submitted a preliminary bid to acquire Ministop Korea, but lost the deal to Lotte.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]