U.S. retail giant Wallmart Inc. said Monday it will sell a majority stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu GK to American investment company KKR & Co. and Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc.

In a deal valuing the business at 172.5 billion yen ($1.6 billion), KKR will acquire a 65 percent stake in Seiyu and Rakuten will obtain a 20 percent stake through a newly created subsidiary, the three companies said.

Wallmart will retain a 15 percent stake in Seiyu, they added.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire