FamilyMart UNY Holdings Co. Ltd.'s board on May 24 approved the sale of Uny Co. Ltd.'s Hong Kong unit to Urban Kirin Ltd., a subsidiary of Hong Kong real estate company Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd., according to separate company announcements.
Urban Kirin will acquire Uny Hong Kong for HK$300 million. The Henderson unit said it expects the move to strengthen the group's position in the local retail industry and expand its store coverage, among other commercial benefits.
Pursuant to the agreement, Uny will grant Urban Kirin an exclusive right and license to use certain trademarks across its Hong Kong stores for 10 years. The two will also enter into a master supply agreement for Uny's supply of certain products from Japan to Uny Hong Kong.
The announcements confirm an earlier report by the Nikkei Asian Review, which suggested that the Japanese convenience store operator was looking to divest its Uny Hong Kong division and its entire stake in Japanese apparel retailer Molie Co. Ltd.
Uny Hong Kong, which operates Apita, Uny, Piago and Watashi to Seikatsu-branded stores in the country, recorded HK$31 million in net income in the fiscal year ended November 2017.
Henderson said completion of the transaction, which is expected after May 31, is subject to the consent and approval of the landlord of Uny Hong Kong's Cityplaza store. The firm said the store's landlord has to approve the lease for the change of control of Uny Hong Kong. If this is not fulfilled on or before Aug. 31, Henderson said it will terminate the agreement automatically.
The real estate firm added that it already received a written approval of the deal from a group of its shareholders that together hold 69.27% of the company's total issued shares.
