Honduras News - Daily News about Honduras

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news) said on Wednesday it now holds a 51 percent stake in Central American Retail Holding Co. (CARHCO) and will change the name of the Central America grocery operator to Wal-Mart Central America.

The move further extends the world’s biggest retailer’s growing reach in Latin America, giving it a stronger foothold in the largely poor region of around 41 million people that bridges Mexico with South America.

The United States generated roughly 80 percent of Wal-Mart’s $312 billion in sales for the latest fiscal year, but its international operations are growing faster. Wal-Mart’s success in Mexico, where it is the No. 1 retailer, has also heightened its interest in Central America.

CARHCO has 375 supermarkets and other stores in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and posted sales of about $2.2 billion in 2005, Wal-Mart said.

CARHCO was formed in 2001 as a joint venture among three equal partners: Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV (AHLN.AS); the Paiz family, who are the major shareholders of La Fragua; and Corporacion de Supermercados Unidos (CSU).

Wal-Mart acquired Ahold’s 33-1/3 percent stake in CARHCO in September 2005. At that time, Wal-Mart said it hoped to have a majority stake in about a year.

Wal-Mart disclosed its additional investment, which brings its stake to 51 percent, on Wednesday, but did not divulge terms of any of the purchases.

Rodrigo Uribe, whose family founded CSU, will become chairman of Wal-Mart Central America’s board of directors. Fernando Paiz, whose family founded La Fragua, will be vice chairman. Both said they and other family members would remain active in the company’s management, according to Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart said it already directly imports more than $350 million in goods from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and purchases goods from many suppliers with farms and factories in Central America.

Reporting by Emily Kaiser