The holding firms of supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. and Seibu Department Stores Ltd. are in the final phase of merger negotiations, industry sources said Sunday.
It the talks are successful, they would result in the birth of Japan's largest comprehensive distribution group with about 4.54 trillion yen in sales as of February 2005, putting it ahead of current industry leader supermarket chain operator Aeon Co. by some 500 billion yen.
The envisioned group would have under its wing department stores, supermarkets, conveniences stores and banks.
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