Tesco Receives Three Bids For South Korean Unit
Multinational grocery Tesco, which is based in the UK, has obtained three separate binding bids - worth around $5.9 billion - for its unit in South Korea, 'Homeplus'.
Although the people involved in the bidding process are yet to be named officially, the sales process is said to be moving in a rush. According to Reuters, a source says that Tesco could select its preferred bidder early in September.
"This is a mission-critical deal for Tesco," shares someone who has direct information of the sale process. "The impetus is on them to get the deal done very quickly, with extremely high certainty."
The British retailer recently ended its partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) following the accounting scandal, as reported by The Guardian.
Tesco and PwC have been doing business for 32 long years before the British retailer replaced PwC just this year.
"Following the conclusion of a formal tender process for its statutory audit contract, the board have approved the proposed appointment of Deloitte LLP as the Company's new statutory auditors, subject to approval by shareholders at the 2015 AGM," Tesco said in a dispatch.
"We and PwC mutually agreed that they would not take part in the tender process. PwC will therefore stand down as the company's auditors at the conclusion of the 2015 annual general meeting."
Serious Fraud Office and Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have conducted an investigation on the accounting scandal. Although the PwC has yet to give their comment on the matter, the professional services network says that they will cooperate with the investigation.
PwC has been working with Tesco since 1983 before they were replaced by Deloitte last year.
Tesco is now working to recover from last year's issue as reports say that selling its Korean unit will help the British company recover from the revenue loss.
Selling its Korean unit will bring back the retailer to investment grade zone two years earlier than current estimates, as reported by Macquarie Research on August 24.
