Ripley Corp, one of the largest retailers in Chile, has decided to go in for an expansion last month by partnering with Mexican department store chain Palacio de Hierro. Falabella, an other Chilean retail leader who has stores in Argentina, Peru and Columbia is waiting for regulators clearance for their merger with Chile’s other super market firm D&S. Taking the cue, even the numero uno retailer of Chile, Cencosud acquired Peru’s top retail giant Grupo Wong, approximately for a price of $500m.
Through the acquisition, Cencosud has added one more country to its kitty for commercial operation. They are already present in Argentina, Brazil, and Columbia apart from their base, Chile. The recent acquisition has helped Cencosud to nudge the world retail giant Walmart out of the race and putting an end to the speculation that Grupo Wong is not for sale. The markets predict that with these expansion projects by Chilean companies, will certainly place them among the elite group of retail business in the world. Through retail market access, Chilean firms are hoping to diversify to other areas of business too to increase their business reach in the Latin American region.
Cencosud has moved into banking and entertainment industry too. Ripley Corp is offering financial services and credit cards with the assistance of its Mexican partner. Falabella has diversified into consumer banking and retail estate development in recent years and has announced an ambitious regional investment plan for the next four years. Thus all the three major retailers of Chile are foraying into Latin American region with calculated approach with financial services beside them. Chile’s trade proximity to emerging economies like China and India, will also give the nation an extra stimulant to its projected economic growth.