Lotte Group acquires Ministop South Korea

South Korea’s Lotte Group has agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Ministop Korea for 313.4 billion won ($263 million), the country’s fifth-largest convenience store chain, from Japan’s Aeon Co., Lotte said on Jan. 21.

With the purchase in cash, Lotte’s convenience store operator 7-Eleven will be able to take on the two sector leaders —  CJ Group’s CU and GS Group’s GS 25, while further widening the gap with fourth-ranked Shinsegae’s E-Mart 24.

“Competition is heating up in the quick commerce market for short-distance services, based on convenience stores,” said an official of the group’s holding company Lotte Corp.

“We are now adding Ministop Korea’s 2,600 stores and 12 logistics centers to the list of our stores, which will expand our points of customer contact in the near term.”

Lotte’s 7-Eleven runs 10,500 outlets nationwide. By comparison, CU boasts 14,900 stores, trailed by second-ranked GS 25 with 14,600 stores.