Australia’s Wesfarmers to Spin Off Coles Supermarket Chain

  • New company will be among top 30 on Australian stock exchange
  • Move allows Wesfarmers to focus on faster-growing businesses
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Wesfarmers Ltd. plans to spin off its Coles supermarket, liquor and convenience stores, 11 years after buying the business in one of Australia’s biggest takeovers. Bloomberg TerminalThe stock surged the most in more than eight years.

The mining-to-home improvement conglomerate plans to retain a minority stake of up to 20 percent of Coles after the spinoff, the Perth-based company said in a statement Friday.