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US retail giant Wal-Mart is planning an expansion into Europe and is currently looking for London office space for a team of 35-55 people it has been reported.
Wal-Mart has enlisted the services of property outfit Cushman & Wakefield to find a London location where it can base the team that is to lead its European expansion.
It is believed that Wal-Mart is focussing its search for London office space in the West End, traditionally a popular location for US companies to have their London offices.
David Cuthbert, a partner at property agent Hanover Green told the Independent: “West London has great rail, road and underground connections. The demand for office space has grown – better than in the past two to three years. The market is tightening and rents are rising.”
Already the US store owns UK supermarket giant ASDA. At one point Wal-Mart also owned German supermarket chain Wertkauf, though this was sold on the back of poor performance.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said: “We are always looking for more opportunities all over the world.”
Currently the chain is in talks to take over South African supermarket outfit Massmart, which has stores in 14 countries in Africa.
However the takeover talks have been delayed over disagreements between Wal-Mart and employees’ unions.
After a hearing from South Africa’s Competitition Tribunal, Wal-Mart agreed that it would not lay off any workers for two years and would recognize existing union contracts as well as paying USD 14 million towards developing South African suppliers.
On the basis of revenue Wal-Mart was the world’s largest company in 2010. Based in Arkansas, the company has 8,500 stores in 15 countries around the world using 55 different names. Currently it employs 2.1 million people.
