Aeon store

Aeon has announced it will purchase the remaining shares of Japanese supermarket chain Daiei for US$255m.

The Japanese retailer owns 44.5 per cent of Daiei and will purchase the remaining shares to make Daiei a fully owned subsidiary of the Japanese retailer by 1 January 2015, according to Reuters.

Daiei will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 26 December 2014, with all 285 Daiei stores to be restructured and rebranded under the Aeon banner and all Daiei hypermarket stores to be gone by 2018.

Aeon said it has begun renovations on some Daiei stores and will focus on improving food sales, according to Planet Retail. The supermarkets have been operating and suffering as a result decreased household spending in Japan.