Dairy Farm will receive a cash consideration of US$17.5 million, which corresponds to the carrying value of the investment in DFI Géant at the date of completion.
The agreement is part of a wider arrangement between Groupe Casino and Far Eastern of Taiwan to combine DFI Géant with Far Eastern's hypermarket business, which is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.
"The results of DFI Géant have not met our expectations. This sale allows us to concentrate our Taiwan resources on expanding our market leading Wellcome supermarkets, which continue to show encouraging trends in results," said Ronald J Floto, Group Chief Executive of Dairy Farm. "Dairy Farm will open hypermarkets in the region, based on our existing successful format in Malaysia," Mr Floto added.
Dairy Farm is a leading food and drugstore retailer in the Asia-Pacific Region. At the end of 1999, the Group and its associates operated 2,063 outlets, principally supermarkets, convenience stores and drugstores, employed some 80,000 people in nine territories and had 1999 sales of US$6.8 billion.