Tesco says in talks over Chinese joint venture

LONDON: Britain's biggest retailer, supermarket chain Tesco, said on Friday that it is in exclusive talks over combining its Chinese operations with those of China Resources Enterprise. 

"Noting recent media speculation, Tesco Plc and China Resources Enterprise Limited announce that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding and are in exclusive talks to combine their Chinese retail operations to form the leading multi-format retailer in China," Tesco said in a statement. 

Tesco said the proposed joint venture would create a business with sales of some £10 billion ($15.5 billion, 11.6 billion euros), in which CRE and Tesco's effective interests are expected to be split 80% and 20% respectively.