[THE INVESTOR] Korean retail giant  E-mart has sold assets worth 267.6 billion won (US$236.16 million) to Costco Korea, industry sources said on Oct. 20.

Last month, E-mart sold three of its stores and plots of land to the US wholesale giant. It received around 100.5 billion won for its Seoul branch, which exceeded the 42.5 billion won government appraisal price. The branches in Daejeon and Daegu were sold for 84.7 billion won and 82.4 billion won, respectively. 

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E-mart to sell stake in Costco Korea


Along with real estate, E-mart also sold its 3.3 percent stake in Costco Korea that it has been holding since their joint venture Price Club was acquired by Costco in 1994.

The sell-offs are part of E-mart’s plans to raise resources for investing in new businesses.

“The larger picture is to expand our convenience store brand E-mart24,” a company spokesperson told The Investor, declining to elaborate further.

Shinsegae, the parent group of E-mart, has been adding a monthly average of 68 new convenience stores this year. As of now, there are 2,421 E-mart24 stores in Korea making it the fourth-largest in the market, behind GS25, CU and 7-Eleven.

E-mart is also selling some of its money-losing business overseas. It recently signed a contract to sell five of its six outlets in China to Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group. The company plans to exit China after selling the remaining outlet by the year-end.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)