As it struggles in making itself profitable in overseas markets, convenience store chain Ministop is set to sell its 40% stake back to joint venture partner Robinsons Supermarket, where it operates around 460 Ministop stores in the Philippines

This development means that Ministop is trying to keep itself lean as a company to mitigate losses. To put it simply, Ministop’s move of selling its joint stake does not affect the operations of all Ministop stores in the country.

Instead, this move means that Robinsons will be in charge of managing all Ministop stores in the country. with Robinsons now having full control, it remains to be seen if the Ministop branding will be kept.

To recall, Ministop Co. Ltd and Mitsubishi Corporation partnered with Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. through its subsidiary back in 2000 to open Ministop stores in the Philippines.

Outside of the Philippines Ministop sold its Korean subsidiary to Lotte for 30.4 Billion Yen. While it has over 2600 stores in Korea, Ministop struggled against the competition in recent years, with operating revenue falling by 6% to 97.9 Billion Yen and a net loss of 1.2 Billion Yen as of February 2021. Aside from Korea and the Philippines, Ministop also liquidated its Chinese subsidiary in Quindao.