Wal-Mart to increase stake in Seiyu

Wal-Mart is to increase its stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu to more than 50 percent, turning it into a Wal-Mart subsidiary. Seiyu operates more than 400 stores in Japan, but has been struggling recently, with losses of US$94 million in the first half of 2005. Wal-Mart has been steadily increasing its stake in Seiyu since it entered the Japanese market in 2002.