Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday agreed to sell Gazeley Ltd., the warehousing unit of its U.K. subsidiary Asda, to a division of Dubai's 75%-government-owned investment firm Dubai World. The deal price was not released but a source with knowledge of the transaction said that it was "in the region of £400 million" ($784 million).
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The sale follows a quick-fire strategic review of the unit that began in March when Wal-Mart tapped bankers at UBS to explore options for the business. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, the world's No. 1 retailer, acquired the unit when it bought Asda in 1999 for £6.71 billion. Gazeley develops and distributes warehousing in Europe, principally in the U.K., as well as China, Mexico and India. Its clients include Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble Co. and DHL International GmbH.
In recent years Dubai has been an aggressive, if often thwarted, bidder for foreign assets as it looks to diversify its earnings away from its dwindling oil reserves.
In April, the state-controlled Investment Corp. of Dubai failed with a €1.95 billion bid for part of Spanish property firm Inmobiliaria Colonial SA. A month earlier Dubai International Capital LLC, the private equity arm of the Dubai government, was rebuffed in its attempt to buy Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds plc for £400 million. - Paul Whitfield
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