Tencent teams up with ParknShop, Yonghui Superstores in latest bid to shake up China’s bricks-and-mortar retail market
- Three companies have formed joint-venture called ParknShop Yonghui, valued at 1.2 billion yuan (US$170 million)
Chinese internet giant Tencent has teamed up with supermarket chain operators ParknShop and Yonghui Superstores in its latest effort to shake up the country’s vast offline retail market.
The three companies have formed a joint-venture company called ParknShop Yonghui, valued at 1.2 billion yuan (US$170 million), Yonghui said in a statement released by Shanghai’s stock exchange on Wednesday.
The partnership would help Shanghai-listed Yonghui expand its business further in the southern province of Guangdong, according to the statement, as well as consolidating Yonghui and ParknShop’s businesses in the province.
The joint venture, with more than 70 shops combined, aimed to become the largest supermarket chain in Guangdong province, with targets to achieve 10 billion yuan in annual sales and eventually reach US$10 billion in the future, said Zhang Xuaning, founder of Yonghui, on Thursday in a press conference. He did not provide a timeline.
The combined revenue from shops ran by ParknShop and Yonghui in Guangdong amounted to 4.1 billion yuan last year, based on figures from Wednesday’s statement.
“Tencent and Yonghui have been very close partners and have together explored opportunities in retail,” said Tian Jiangxue, vice general manager of Tencent’s smart retail strategic cooperation department.
