|
Will Wal-Mart buy
Mycal: Japanese newspaper says take-over is imminent Will ailing supermarket operator Mycal be Wal-Mart's entry gate into the Japanese market? If Yomiuri Shimbun is right, the negotiations are already in their final phase. The newspaper says that a take-over would concern 96 of Mycal's 144 stores, the rest would be closed down.
Mycal, Japan's forth largest supermarket operator, filed for protection against its creditor earlier this month. This followed the drying up of the support from Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, which in its turn now is in trouble because of the retailer's failure to pay back its loans. Wal-Mart refuses to comment on whether negotiations with Mycal are taking place. The Japanese company on its part say that it is looking for another retailer to help it save its operations. It would be surprising if Wal-Mart was not indeed one of them. Not so good in Europe The world's largest retailer already operates 14 stores in China and seven in Korea. Outside its home market in the United States, Wal-Mart is strongly present in Latin America. In Europe, Wal-Mart has established itself in the United Kingdom and in Germany. The German operations have not been successful, while Asda in the UK is apparently doing better. It is being said that this is because the Arkansas-based retailer has largely retained the Asda concept. At home in the United States, Wal-Mart is known as a bad employer, paying sub-standard wages and refusing to provide many benefits which are normal in unionised companies. To protect its social dumping approach, the company is going to great lengths to hinder its American workers from joining trade unions. Wal-Mart will be discussed at a meeting between Uni Commerce and the Japanese commercial workers' trade unions, in Tokyo in December.
|
