7th Sep 2015 06:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tesco PLC on Monday said it has struck a deal to sell its Homeplus business in South Korea to a consortium led by private equity group MBK Partners for GBP4.24 billion.
The FTSE 100-listed retailer said it has sold the company to the MBK-led consortium, which also includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Temasek Holdings Pvt Ltd, following an auction process which has been running for the past few months and which attracted the attention of a number of prominent private equity suitors.
Tesco said it will get a total of GBP4.0 billion in cash before tax and other transaction costs from the sale and said the deal will allow it to significantly reduce its GBP4.23 billion debt pile.
It expects the sale to complete in the fourth quarter of the year, conditional on it securing shareholder and regulatory approval.
"After a highly competitive process, we are announcing today the proposed sale of Homeplus, our business in the Republic of Korea. This sale realises material value for shareholders and allows us to make significant progress on our strategic priority of protecting and strengthening our balance sheet," said Dave Lewis, Tesco's chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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