Alejandro Char, mayor of the Colombian coastal city Barranquilla, announced Friday that Supertiendas y Droguerias Olimpica SA, one of Colombia’s biggest shopping chains, are considering a strategic alliance with U.S. retail giant Walmart, reports Caracol Radio.
The mayor, a member of the Char family who own Olimpica, said that the firm has had several offers to form a partnership, and that such an alliance is important for the company as it grows.
Char said that there are currently managers in the company who “should be analyzing” the proposal.
The announcement follows reports in December 2008 that Walmart was planning to buy Olympica. El Tiempo speculated that Walmart would use Colombia as its entry-point into South America.
This Barranquilla-based chain of drugstores, supermarkets and hypermarkets was founded in Colombia in 1953, and has branches in more than 50 cities across the country.