Photo/Shetuwang

Feb. 26 (NBD) – Tesco (TSCO: London), Britain's biggest supermarket chain, on Tuesday announced that it has sold 20-percent share in Gain Land to China Resources Holdings ("CRH") for 275 million pounds (361.4 million U.S. dollars), establishing an exit from China.

Founded in 2014, Gain Land was a venture between CRH and Tesco, with the latter taking minority stake, that is, 20 percent. At the time, the joint venture combined Tesco's 131 outlets in China with its partner's 3,000 stores, called Vanguard.

In an interview with National Business Daily (NBD) on Wednesday, CRH said that the transaction reflects the company's confidence in Vanguard and it will continue to support the development of Vanguard stores. CRH also noted that Vanguard and Tesco will keep long-term cooperation in big data, supply chain and other aspects.

The disposal allows Tesco to further simplify and focus the business on its core operations, the British retailer stated, adding that the transaction will complete on February 28, 2020.

The deal comes two months after Tesco signaled last December that it was considering the sale of its Thai and Malaysian businesses, the retailer's last remaining wholly-owned businesses in Asia.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn