GS Retail Co., a retail unit of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, will take over additional 50 percent stake in the Korean unit of drug store franchise label Watsons from Hong Kong-based A.S. Watson Group to make it its fully-owned entity, the company said Thursday.
The Korean retailer in December 2004 launched Watsons Korea on a 50:50 partnership investment with A.S Watsons. It will fully own it by taking over the remaining 50 percent stake at 11.9 billion won ($10.4 million) from Watsons Holdings, Korean unit of the Hong Kong retail company.
The company decided to make Watsons Korea as a wholly owned subsidiary to create a synergy effect with other retail businesses, said an unnamed GS Retail official.
GS Retail has been operating the drug store chain in Korea under the brand name GS Watsons since it opened the first branch in Seoul in March 2005. It opened 54 GS Watsons stores across the country by 2011 and the number of stores jumped to 128 by end of last year.
Shares of GS Retail closed Friday at 52,000 won, up 4.21 percent from the previous session in Seoul trading.