The Aeon supermarket chain said Friday it will take a 15 percent stake in troubled Daiei for 46.2 billion yen, an alliance that will create the country's biggest retail group.
Under the deal, Aeon is buying the shares from its biggest stakeholder, trading house Marubeni Corp., which has 44.6 percent of Daiei's shares.
Aeon will also buy a 20 percent stake in group supermarket chain Maruetsu Inc. from Daiei for 16.5 billion yen.