The world famous French discounter Carrefour SA has chosen South Korea's Lotte Shopping Co. and British retailer Tesco Plc.'s local joint venture as the preferred bidders for its South Korean unit, South Korean Yonhap News Agency quoted industry sources as reporting on Thursday.

Carrefour Korea Ltd., the fourth largest discounter in South Korea, has been seeking to sell all 32 outlets in the Asian country to exit the South Korean market.

Previously, industry observer estimated the total value of the 32 outlets are about 1.5 trillion won (1.53 billion U.S. dollars).

Lotte Shopping, which operates the nation's No. 3 discounter Lotte Mart, said in a regulatory filing it was "selected as one of the prime bidders for Carrefour Korea," reported Yonhap.

The other preferred bidder is SamsungTesco Homeplus Co., the second-largest industry player and Tesco's joint venture with Samsung Corp., the sources said.

Analysts predicted that one of the two companies may sign a preliminary deal as early as next week after negotiations on due diligence and other terms.

Since opening its first local store in 1996, Carrefour Korea has been plagued by constant rumors of takeover bids by its competitors due to its relatively weaker performance, the sources said.

The sale of Carrefour Korea, if completed, is expected to drastically change the landscape of the nation's 22 billion dollars discount store industry. E-Mart Co., a subsidiary of Shinsegae Co. is currently dominating the market.

E-Mart leads the industry with 79 outlets, followed by SamsungTesco Homeplus's 42 outlets.

Source: Xinhua