Wumart's stock last traded at HK$6.88 (US$1.13) in Hong Kong.

It paid 176.7 million yuan (US$22.1 million) in April for a 28 per cent stake in Shanghai-listed supermarket retailer Yinchuan Xinhua, which operates four department stores and 23 supermarkets in Yinchuan in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

It completed the acquisition of MerryMart ChainStore Development, the fourth largest retailer in Beijing, at the end of August. Wumart spent 279.5 million yuan (US$34.9 million) to purchase 75 per cent of MerryMart.

Wumart spent HK$1.14 billion for half of Jiangsu Times, the second largest retailer in the Chinese mainland's biggest provincial economy, this month.

The company has already raised 500 million yuan (US$ 62.5 million) in funding for acquisitions and store openings this year.

Based on reports last Friday, Wumart plans to sell 101.3 million H shares at a price of HK$6.6 (US$1.08) per share, in order to raise HK$668.7 million for further expansion and acquisition.

According to its third quarter report, turnover of the Beijing-based chain retailer exceeded 1.46 billion yuan (US$183 million) with net profit of 55 million yuan (US$6.9 million), up 54.1 per cent and 53.2 per cent from the same period last year.

1

2

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)