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Will proceed with steps to acquire full ownership
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Wal-Mart") (NYSE: WMT) today announced that its tender offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of its Japanese subsidiary, The Seiyu, Ltd. ("Seiyu") (TSE: 8268), resulted in 411,884,160 ordinary shares being tendered. Upon settlement, this will raise Wal-Mart's ownership of Seiyu from 50.9 percent to 95.1 percent, well above the tender offer's minimum target of two-thirds ownership. In addition, all preferred shares not already held by Wal-Mart were tendered.
"We are very pleased with the positive response to this tender offer," said Mike Duke, Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "This successful result paves the way to achieve our stated goal of full ownership of Seiyu, which will enable Seiyu and Wal-Mart together to accelerate the delivery of long-term benefits to our customers, the communities we serve, our associates and our business partners."
The tender offer commenced on October 23, 2007, and closed on December 4, 2007. Settlement for tenders received will commence on December 11, 2007. As a result of this tender offer, Wal-Mart will proceed with additional steps to acquire all of the remaining shares, which will result in the delisting of Seiyu shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Club locations in the United States. The Company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. Wal-Mart serves more than 176 million customers weekly in 14 markets. The Company's securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT.
For more information: http://www.walmartfacts.com
About The Seiyu, Ltd. (TSE: 8268)
The Seiyu, Ltd. is a leading Japanese retailer, with major operations in supermarkets and general merchandising stores. As of August 2007, the Seiyu Group operates 393 stores located throughout Japan.
For more information: http://www.seiyu.co.jp/english