Kingfisher sells majority in China

The British DIY group Kingfisher sells 70 per cent of its shares in the B&Q chain in China for GBP 140 mio to Wumei Holdings. A binding agreement was reached on 22 December. The Chinese Ministry of Trade still has to give the transaction its approval, which should then be finalised in the first half of 2015.Wumei is one of the biggest retail companies in China. The branch network includes around 650 supermarkets and 10 department stores with a combined sales area of 1.4 mio m², as well as the brands Wumart, Jingbei Shopping Mall, Merrymart, Xinhua Department Store, Zhejiang Gongxiao and Laodafang. The company was founded in 1994 and has its headquarters in Peking.B&Q has been in China since 1999 and still currently operates 39 DIY stores. Véronique Laury, the new CEO of Kingfisher said, the sale would enable the group “to focus our financial resources and management talent on the large and attractive European home improvement market”.