The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has approved plans by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. allowing the U.S. retail giant to control China's largest online supermarket, Yihaodian, on restrictive conditions.
If successful, the acquisition will help Wal-Mart grab a bigger slice of China’s booming online shopping market.
Wal-Mart got the green light to increase its stake to 51.3 percent from 17.7 percent in a separate company that will own Yihaodian’s online retailing business, according to a MOC statement released on Tuesday.
However, the acquisition “may have an effect of excluding or restricting competition in China's value-added telecommunications service market” and can only be completed under several restrictive conditions, said the statement released by the MOC’s anti-monopoly bureau.
