--- title: "Lotte Wants to Sell Its Supermarkets in China for 4.8 Billion Yuan—Who Will Take Over?" description: "Lotte Group, which had repeatedly denied withdrawing from China, has finally decided to sell its Chinese supermarket chain Lotte Mart. The sale of its 112 stores is not going smoothly, as buyers' offers are far below the book value of 830 billion won. The ongoing THAAD dispute has chilled Sino-Korean relations, and Lotte's 8 trillion won investment in China may face further difficulties." author: "陶凤" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2017-09-19" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/lotte-wants-to-sell-its-supermarkets-in-china-for-4-8-billion-yuanwho-wi-3527f0b7/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/lotte-wants-to-sell-its-supermarkets-in-china-for-4-8-billion-yuanwho-wi-3527f0b7.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FIL0chehhQwDac3v-MmWvw" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B9%90%E5%A4%A9%E6%83%B3%E8%A6%8148%E4%BA%BF%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%B8%81%E5%87%BA%E5%94%AE%E5%9C%A8%E5%8D%8E%E8%B6%85%E5%B8%82-%E8%B0%81%E4%BC%9A%E6%8E%A5%E7%9B%98-3527f0b7.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/lotte-wants-to-sell-its-supermarkets-in-china-for-4-8-billion-yuanwho-wi-3527f0b7/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Lotte Wants to Sell Its Supermarkets in China for 4.8 Billion Yuan—Who Will Take Over? > Lotte Group, which had repeatedly denied withdrawing from China, has finally decided to sell its Chinese supermarket chain Lotte Mart. The sale of its 112 stores is not going smoothly, as buyers' offers are far below the book value of 830 billion won. The ongoing THAAD dispute has chilled Sino-Korean relations, and Lotte's 8 trillion won investment in China may face further difficulties. Paper cannot wrap fire. Lotte Group, which had repeatedly denied withdrawing from China, has finally decided to sell its Chinese supermarket chain Lotte Mart, and its 8 trillion won investment in China may face even greater difficulties. However, the sale of its 112 stores is not going smoothly. Lotte and securities circles estimate the book value of Lotte Mart at 830 billion won, but buyers' offers are far below that figure. Who will take over? According to sources from Lotte Group and the investment banking sector, Lotte Mart recently discussed the sale of its stores with Beijing Hualian Group. Subsequently, Lotte Mart also held negotiations with Thailand's CP Group and others. However, these companies' acquisition offers were more than 30% below the book value, and negotiations have made no progress. A reporter visited Lotte Mart's Guorui City store on the afternoon of September 17 and found that most products had been removed from shelves, while the remaining items were on deep discount. Despite it being a Sunday, there were few customers. The shelves in the fresh food and beverage sections were about half empty, and the home appliance section was incomplete. The freezers that usually held fresh products were empty. In the entrance aisle, some items were being sold at low prices, with cardboard boxes bearing packing slips indicating the transfer-out and transfer-in stores. Although there had been repeated rumors that Lotte Group would sell its Lotte Mart stores in China, Lotte Group subsequently denied and urgently clarified, saying it would "never give up its business in China." On September 11, Lotte urgently clarified that Lotte Group had not discussed any plans to withdraw from the Chinese market. Not only Lotte Mart supermarkets, but also more than 20 related subsidiaries, including Lotte Department Store, Lotte World, Lotte Confectionery, and Lotte Cinema, have entered the Chinese market. Considering the market size and growth potential of its Chinese operations, Lotte would never give up its business in China. But Lotte couldn't hold on. In less than a week, the situation reversed dramatically, and on September 14 it was confirmed that Lotte Mart's China operations were being sold. Lotte recently decided to sell its Chinese supermarket chain Lotte Mart and selected Goldman Sachs as the lead manager for the sale. The scope of the sale has not yet been determined, but it is possible that all 112 supermarkets in China will be sold. As recently as March this year, Lotte Mart had 115 stores in China. Since then, Lotte Mart stores in China have gradually closed, with 87 of the 112 stores shut down. It is estimated that Lotte Mart's losses over the six months amounted to 500 billion won (about 2.9 billion yuan). If the current situation continues until the end of the year, losses could reach 1 trillion won. A source from the investment banking sector said that Lotte is eager to sell, putting it at a disadvantage in negotiations, and buyers are well aware of Lotte's current situation and are driving prices down sharply. The source also said that Lotte Mart China's sales in the first half of this year were one-fifth of last year's, making it difficult to sell at a satisfactory price. China-South Korea relations at a freezing point Before THAAD, Lotte had been expanding aggressively in China since 2008. However, in February this year, Lotte Group signed a land swap agreement with the South Korean government, agreeing to give up its golf course land to facilitate the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system. This move sparked strong dissatisfaction in China, and Lotte's business in China suffered a heavy blow as a result. In the early morning of September 7, the South Korean and U.S. military transported the remaining four THAAD missile launchers and related equipment to the THAAD base in Seongju, South Korea. That same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular press conference that China had made solemn representations to South Korea over the "temporary" deployment of THAAD. With the deployment of the remaining THAAD launchers a done deal and Sino-Korean relations further cooling, Lotte decided to formally proceed with the transfer of its supermarket business. After the THAAD incident, Lotte Mart's performance plummeted, and it relied on transfusions from its South Korean headquarters to survive. In March, Lotte headquarters provided 360 billion won in working capital to Lotte Mart, but by the end of August it was almost exhausted. On August 31, Lotte Mart announced that it would inject $300 million for a second round of emergency "transfusion" to its China operations to overcome the current business difficulties. At that time, Lotte Group was already secretly considering the possibility of selling its China Lotte Mart and who might take over. Li Jiacheng, a researcher at the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at Liaoning University, said in an interview with a reporter: "After the full deployment of THAAD, Sino-Korean relations are likely to remain in a downward frozen state for a long time, and South Korean companies in China will inevitably be impacted. The deployment of THAAD in South Korea will not instantly erase the achievements of 25 years of Sino-Korean relations, but it will indeed cause a serious regression in bilateral relations." Some scholars even say that THAAD could set Sino-Korean economic and trade relations back a decade overnight. Investment shaken As one of South Korea's top five conglomerates, Lotte entered China in 1994, and Lotte Mart is a major player in the group. In December 2007, Lotte Mart acquired eight stores of Beijing Makro and formally entered the Chinese market. Since then, Lotte Mart has continuously acquired multiple hypermarkets in China, spreading across Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Shenyang, Chongqing, and other places. China quickly became Lotte Mart's most important overseas market. Currently, including retail (Lotte Department Store and Lotte Mart), food (Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Chilsung), and tourism services (Lotte Hotel, Lotte Duty Free, and Lotte Cinema), Lotte has 22 subsidiaries in China, with a total investment of 8 trillion won. In particular, Lotte's Lotte City project in Shenyang, which cost 3 trillion won and includes a Lotte World amusement park, shopping mall, hotel, and apartments, was halted in November last year on fire safety concerns. The Chengdu Lotte Plaza project, which invested 1 trillion won and was planned for completion in 2019, is also facing difficulties. With the transfer of Lotte Mart confirmed, Lotte's business in China may face even greater difficulties. A source from South Korea's financial and economic circles said that Lotte had previously been reluctant to sell Lotte Mart, partly out of concern about negative impacts on other projects with heavy investment. But now that it has decided to withdraw, as the THAAD controversy continues to ferment, Lotte's 8 trillion won investment in China may be shaken across the board. However, Lotte still denies this. A Lotte Group official said, "The withdrawal of Lotte Mart does not mean the withdrawal of all our business. We still have ongoing investments in China, and a full exit is not easy." **Appendix:** **All Lotte Group retail store information in China:** **Lotte Department Store (5 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 1 | Lotte Department Store Tianjin Dongmalu | No. 137 Dongma Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 2 | Lotte Department Store Cultural Center | No. 9 Leyuan Road, Hexi District, Tianjin (intersection of Leyuan Road and Yuexiu Road) 3 | Lotte Department Store Weihai | No. 17-4 Xincheng Road, Huancui District, Weihai, opposite Hualian 4 | Lotte Department Store Chengdu Global Center | No. 1700 North Tianfu Avenue, High-tech Zone, Chengdu, New Century Global Center 5 | Lotte Department Store Shenyang | No. 9-4, 9-5 Beiling Street, Huanggu District, Shenyang, Liaoning **Lotte Mart Supermarkets - Beijing (20 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 1 | Beijing Yangqiao | 1-3F, No. 19 Dahongmen West Road, Fengtai District, Beijing 2 | Beijing Jiuxianqiao | Jiuxianqiao, Chaoyang District 3 | Tongzhou Baliqiao | Hall 1, No. A27 Tonghui North Road, Tongzhou District, Beijing (inside Baliqiao Agricultural Products Center Wholesale Market) 4 | Beijing Wangjing | No. 17 Guangshun North Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing (Liubai Commercial Area) 5 | Beijing Sidaokou | B1 and 1F, Jingguo Commercial Building, No. 2 Sidaokou, Haidian District, Beijing (former Sidaokou Fruit Wholesale Market) 6 | Beijing Chongwenmen | Underground, Building 3, Guorui City Central Area, No. 18 Chongwai Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 7 | Beijing Gongyi West Bridge | Building 16, Yicheng District, Chengnan Jiayuan, South 4th Ring Middle Road, Fengtai District, Beijing 8 | Beijing Anzhen | 1F, Building 2, Shenggu Jiayuan, Chaoyang District 9 | Beijing Shangdi | 1F, Building 2, Shangdi Jiayuan, Haidian District 10 | Beijing Yamenkou Bridge | C1-101, Building 1, No. 67 Jingyang East Street, Shijingshan District 11 | Beijing Lugu | 29-3, 1F, Building 29, Area 2, Yuquan West Li, Shijingshan District 12 | Beijing Chaowai | Inside B1, No. 103, Building 18, Sanfeng North Li, Chaoyang District 13 | Beijing Shilibao | Room 03, 1F, Building 3, Runfeng Jiashang, No. 129 Chaoyang North Road, and B1, No. 02, ground floor commercial 14 | Beijing Guangqu Road | Building 13, No. 66 Guangqu Road, Baihuan Jiayuan 15 | Beijing Shuangqing Road | No. 6 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District (near 7 Days Inn Tsinghua Garden) 16 | Beijing Daxing Guanyinsi | Building 1, Guanyinsi Community, Huangcun Town, Daxing District, Beijing (next to Guanyinsi Primary School) 17 | Beijing Shunyi Shimen | B1, Julehui Commercial Building, southwest corner of Shimen Station Exit, Metro Line 15, east of Wangquansi Village, Renhe Town, Shunyi District, Beijing 18 | Beijing Baishiqiao | Building 11, No. 9 Shouti South Road, Haidian District, Beijing (Exit A, Baishiqiao South Metro) 19 | Beijing Yizhuang | Taihe Yuan Wuli, Yizhuang, Daxing District, Beijing 20 | Beijing Jingtai Road | Near Holiday Inn, north of Zhaogongkou Bridge **Tianjin (2 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 21 | Tianjin No. 1 Bridge | No. 119 Jintang Road, Hedong District, Tianjin 22 | Tianjin Beichen | Intersection of Chenchang Road and Longquan Road, Beichen District, Tianjin, Ruijing Commercial Center **Hebei Province (3 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 23 | Hebei Zhuozhou | B1, Yijiawang Shopping Plaza, Middle Fanyang Road, Zhuozhou, Hebei 24 | Hebei Yanjiao | 150 meters east of the intersection of Yanshun Road and Shenwei North Road, Yanjiao Town Economic Development Zone, Hebei 25 | Tangshan Expo Plaza | 1F and B1, Expo Plaza, south of Xinhua Road, west of Jianshe Road, Lunan District, Tangshan **Shanghai (2 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 26 | Shanghai Putuo | No. 768 Yangliuqing Road 27 | Shanghai Zhabei | B1, No. 550 Zhijiang West Road **Shandong Province (4 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 28 | Dongying Dongcheng | No. 188 Jiaozhou Road, Dongcheng District, Dongying 29 | Tengzhou No. 2 | Northwest corner of intersection of Shanguo Road and Fuqian Road, Tengzhou, Zaozhuang 30 | Zaozhuang | No. 195 Jiefang North Road, Shizhong District, Zaozhuang 31 | Zibo | No. 29 Liuquan Road, Zhangdian District, Zibo **Jiangsu Province (56 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 32 | Changzhou No. 2 | Intersection of Zhulin South Road and Feilong East Road 33 | Huai'an No. 1 | No. 136 Huaihai East Road, Huai'an 34 | Huai'an No. 2 | No. 43 Jiefang East Road, Huai'an 35 | Huai'an Qingmian | No. 214 Jiefang West Road, Huai'an 36 | Huai'an Qingpu | No. 80 Renmin South Road, Qingpu District, Huai'an 37 | Huai'an Jinhu | No. 38 Jiankang Road, Jinhu County, Huai'an 38 | Huai'an Chuzhou | No. 2 Nanmen Street, Chuzhou District, Huai'an 39 | Huaihai North Road | No. 536 Huai'an North Road, Huai'an 40 | Lianyungang No. 1 | No. 39 Tongguan North Road, Lianyungang 41 | Lianyungang No. 2 | No. 58 Julong South Road, Lianyungang 42 | Lianyungang No. 3 | Intersection of Chaoyang West Road and Yanhe South Road, Lianyungang 43 | Lianyungang Donghai | No. 79 Heping East Road, Donghai County, Lianyungang 44 | Lianyungang Guanyun | Intersection of Shengli Middle Road and Yishan Road, Lianyungang 45 | Lianyungang Guannan | Renmin Middle Road, Xin'an Town, Guannan County, Lianyungang 46 | Qidong | No. 528 Renmin Middle Road, Huilong Town, Qidong 47 | Nantong Hai'an | No. 36 Renmin Middle Road, Hai'an County, Nantong 48 | Nantong Yijiaqiao | Garden Building, No. 49 Qingnian East Road, Nantong 49 | Nantong Rugao | 2F, Xiu Plaza, No. 398 Zhongshan Road, Rugao, Nantong 50 | Nantong Haimen | No. 309 Jiefang Middle Road, Haimen, Nantong 51 | Nantong Development Zone | No. 80 Shanghai East Road, Development Zone, Nantong 52 | Nantong Rudong | No. 9 Qingyuan North Road, Juegang Town, Rudong County 53 | Nantong Longwangqiao | Lotte Building, No. 259 Gongnong Road, Chongchuan District, Nantong 54 | Suzhou Wujiang | No. 388 Yongkang Road, Songling Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou 55 | Suzhou Huayuan | No. 918 Huayuan Road, Suzhou 56 | Suzhou Binhe | Intersection of Binhe Road and Zhuyuan Road, No. 7 Zhuyuan Road, Suzhou 57 | Suzhou Taicang | Central Market, Wuling Street, Chengxiang Town, Taicang 58 | Jiangsu Shuyang | Renmin Middle Road, Shuyang County Town (former old bus station) 59 | Shuyang No. 2 | Intersection of Suzhou Road and Changzhou Road, Shuyang County Town 60 | Jiangsu Suqian | Intersection of Xingfu Middle Road and Huangyun Road 61 | Suqian Xiangwang Road | Hope City, intersection of Xiangwang Road and Fukang Avenue, Suqian 62 | Suqian Sihong | No. 2 Sizhou West Street, Sihong County, Suqian 63 | Qingyang | 2F, Dongfeng Market, Qingyang Town, Sihong County, Suqian 64 | Siyang No. 1 | No. 30 Renmin Middle Road, Siyang County, Huai'an 65 | Siyang No. 2 | No. 2 Beijing Middle Road, Siyang County, Huai'an 66 | Taizhou Jiuzhou | No. 161 Qingnian North Road, Taizhou 67 | Taizhou Hailing | Northeast corner of intersection of Hailing Road and Jichuan Road, Taizhou 68 | Taizhou Jingjiang | Building 7, Decheng City Plaza, No. 1 Renmin North Road, Jingjiang, Taizhou 69 | Taizhou Xinghua | West end of Maqiao Street, Fengshou South Road, Xinghua, Taizhou 70 | Taizhou Yingchun Road | Inside Meihao Yiju City, east of Zongsi Road, south of Yingchun East Road, Hailing District 71 | Wuxi Jiangyin | Intersection of Daqiao North Road and Tianhe Road 72 | Wuxi Jincheng Road | No. 99 Jincheng East Road, Wuxi New District, Wuxi 73 | Xuzhou Xinyi | No. 35 Nanjing Road, Xinyi, Xuzhou 74 | Xuzhou Suining | B1, Tianyuan Plaza, Yuanfu Road, Suining County, Xuzhou 75 | Xuzhou Wanda | B1, Wanda Plaza, No. 58 Heping Avenue, Yunlong District, Xuzhou 76 | Yancheng No. 1 | Building 11, Zhongyin Haihua Plaza, No. 59 Jianjun Middle Road, Yancheng 77 | Yancheng No. 2 | No. 128 Jiefang South Road, Yancheng 78 | Yancheng Sheyang | Xingyang Plaza, Zhenyang Street, Sheyang County, Yancheng 79 | Yancheng Binhai | No. 95 Fudong Middle Road, Binhai County, Yancheng 80 | Yancheng Jianhu | No. 99 Renmin North Road, Jianhu County, Yancheng 81 | Yancheng Xiangshui | Dingyuan Building, No. 111 Huanghai Road, Xiangshui County, Yancheng 82 | Yangzhou | No. 736 Yangtze River Middle Road 83 | Yangzhou Yizheng | No. 114 Gongnong South Road 84 | Yangzhou Baoying | No. 31 Anyi East Road, Baoying County, Yangzhou 85 | Yangzhou Taishan | No. 65 Dongtai South Road, Baoying County, Yangzhou (former Taishan Farmers Market) 86 | Yangzhou Yeting | Mingshi Huating, intersection of Yeting Road and Baitian Road, Baoying County, Yangzhou 87 | Yangzhou Jiangdu | No. 2 Dongfanghong Road, Jiangdu District, Yangzhou 88 | Yangzhou Danyang | Underground, Citizen Plaza, Xinmin Middle Road **Zhejiang Province (4 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 89 | Jiaxing | No. 886 Chengnan Road, Nanhu District, Jiaxing 90 | Jinhua | No. 288 Bayi South Street, Jinhua (Jinhua Mall Area A) 91 | Xiaoshan | No. 711 Shixin Middle Road, Xiaoshan District 92 | Zhuji | No. 66 Gendai East Road, Zhuji **Anhui Province (8 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 93 | Dangtu | Intersection of Tishu Road and Zhenxing Road, Dangtu County, Ma'anshan 94 | Chaohu | Building 1, Renmin Road Commercial Pedestrian Street, Chaohu 95 | Chizhou | Intersection of Qiupu Road and Changjiang Road 96 | Chuzhou | No. 64 Tianchang East Road, Chuzhou 97 | Fengtai | Intersection of Zhoulai Road and Linhuai Road, Fengtai County, Huainan 98 | Lu'an | Zhedong Commercial City, Jiefang South Road, Lu'an 99 | Suzhou | Northwest corner of intersection of Yinhe First Road and Fushu Road, Suzhou 100 | Wuhu Central City | No. 39 Huajin South Road, Yijiang District, Wuhu **Chongqing (4 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 101 | Fuling | B2, Zesheng Central Plaza, No. 25 Xinghua Middle Road, Fuling District, Chongqing 102 | Daping | B1, Yingli International Plaza, No. 18 Daping Branch Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 103 | Nanmenshan | Jinke World Corridor, No. 9 Zhongshan Third Road, Fuling District, Chongqing 104 | Wenqu Plaza | No. 40 Shengli Road, Yongchuan District, Chongqing **Sichuan Province (2 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 105 | Konggang Korean City | No. 280 Baijia Section, Dajian Road, Shuangliu County, Chengdu 106 | Chengdu Fucheng International | No. 722 Middle Yizhou Avenue, High-tech Zone, Chengdu **Liaoning Province (4 stores)** 107 | Yuhong | No. 96 Huanghe North Street, Yuhong, Shenyang 108 | Heping | No. 38 Shisanwei Road, Heping District, Shenyang 109 | Donggang | Next to Huanghai Market, No. 37 Dadong Street, Donggang, Dandong 110 | Fushun | B1, Wanda Plaza, No. 10 West First Street, Fushun **Jilin Province (4 stores)** **No.** | **Store Name** | **Store Address** 111 | Chuanying | No. 10 Jiefang West Road, Jilin City 112 | Jiangnan | Shunlong Sunshine Cuiyuan, No. 1 Shenzhen C District, High-tech Zone, Jilin City, Jilin Province 113 | Dandong Wanda Plaza | B1, Wanda Plaza, No. 298 Jinshan Street, Zhenxing District, Dandong 114 | Changchun Lvyuan | No. 2519 Haoyue Road, Lvyuan District, Changchun The 3rd (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in November 2017. The conference will closely focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology" and invite over 1,000 distributors, 500 brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to jointly explore a new chapter of cross-border integration! **Core topics of this conference:** > * How can the FMCG industry leverage B2B to achieve new growth opportunities? > > > > > > > * How should the new supply chain behind new retail be built? > > > > > > > * How can intra-city logistics help B2B achieve leapfrog development? **Highlights of this conference:** > * The industry's first "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness White Paper" > > > > > * Excellent case sharing of distributors' transformation and upgrading > > > > > * Conference + exhibition upgrade: Hall 6 Internet Technology Exhibition strengthens docking > > > > > * Leaders from Alibaba Retail Link, PGL Financial, Eternal Asia Supply Chain, Best Store Plus, Yijiupi, and Hdware will deliver speeches and share pioneering views. > > **Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register.** Add friend with note "Conference Registration" Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: [2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum]() -END- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671