Lotte Group pushing to acquire local duty-free stores

SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- Lotte Group, a South Korean retail and beverage conglomerate, said Friday that it plans to take over duty-free stores from Aekyung Group, another local conglomerate.

"We are considering buying duty-free shops from Aekyung. But we are in talks with
the Fair Trade Commission because the deal could violate rules over holding a
monopoly or oligopoly," said a Lotte official, requesting anonymity. Aekyung also
confirmed the deal, though gave no details on it.
Duty-free shops operated by Lotte posted 1.11 trillion won (US$1 billion) in
sales last year, dominating the local duty-free market with a 50 percent market
share.
Aekyung has three duty-free stores and one online duty-free shop, whose combined
sales stood at 320 billion won in 2008.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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