Daiei shares climb on Wal-Mart rumors

[dArKeR]

Shares in Daiei, Japan's third-largest supermarket chain, surged more than 27 percent yesterday as speculation mounted the world's biggest retailer, US-based Wal-Mart, was vying to rescue the struggling firm.

After a newspaper report Wal-Mart would present its revival plan for Daiei Inc. to the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan (ICRJ), the supermarket operator's shares jumped ?50 (US$0.48) to close the day at ?235. Trading volume exploded to 43.7 million shares from the 3.4 million that changed hands on Wednesday.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun report said Wal Mart Stores Inc, which already controls Japan's fourth-ranked retailer Seiyu Ltd, would only take part in the rescue if the ICRJ, a publicly funded corporate revival body, also played a role.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/08/20/2003199503