Tesco reportedly picks MBK as preferred bidder for Homeplus
Tesco has reportedly chosen private equity firm MBK Partners as preferred bidder for its South Korean unit, Homeplus.
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Last week, Reuters cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Tesco had received three separate binding bids for the unit at around 7 trillion won, or £3.86bn.
In May, Tesco was said to have rejected a £4bn bid for the Homeplus business and in June, the company shortlisted Affinity Equity Partners, Carlyle Group, KKR and MBK Partners for the final round of bids.
Tesco is looking to sell Homeplus in an attempt to cut its £22bn debts and fund a turnaround plan as it recovers from an accounting scandal and market share losses to discount chains such as Lidl and Aldi.
In a June update, Tesco reported another slip in sales, but said the decline was slowing. International like-for-like sales improved, although Korea and Thailand LFLs were down by just over 3% and 2% respectively.