Walmart to exit Argentina

Walmart Inc. continues to redefine its global operations as it focuses on its business at home.

The retail giant announced it is selling its business in Argentina to Grupo de Narváez, a Latin American group with retail operations in Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay. The new owners will bring strong local expertise that will position the business to thrive, Walmart said. The company didn’t disclose the size of the deal. 

Walmart will continue to support the business through transition services and sourcing agreements under the new ownership. But it will not retain an equity stake.  

Walmart Argentina opened its first location in 1995, and has since grown to more than 90 stores operating under the Changomas, Mi Changomas, Walmart Supercenter and Punto Mayorista banners. All the banners will continue to serve customers in Argentina following the transaction with the exception of Walmart Supercenters, which will be rebranded.

As a result of the sale, Walmart will take a non-cash loss of about $1 billion after taxes during the third quarter of fiscal 2021, the company said in a government filing, with the loss "primarily due to cumulative foreign currency translation losses.”

In October, Walmart announced it would sell its majority stake in Asda Group Ltd., Britain’s third-largest grocery chain, to an investment group for an enterprise value of $8.8 billion.

“We are very proud of our Argentina business and associates as they’ve led and shown resilience throughout this year serving customers when they needed them most,” stated Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International. “We are excited by the local retail expertise the new owners bring to this already strong business, and we believe this deal creates the right structure to help it truly flourish for many years.”