Franchising, retail, business
13/04/2015
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) announced that the company's founding family, the Waltons, has moved 6 percent of the retailer's outstanding shares into a newly formed trust for possible sale. The move is intended to offset expected increases in its stake that have been attributed to stock buybacks and to help fund charitable contributions.
The Walton family owned 50.86 percent of Walmart's stock as of Dec. 31 and is set to put $15.6 billion worth of stock into the trust, reported Reuters.
According to a company statement, the family said their shares must be sold from time to time to keep the balance of family and non-family ownership and ensure long-term business success.
The sale is anticipated to take years.
In June of 2013, Walmart announced it would repurchase $15 billion worth of its own shares.
Earlier this month, Walmart started putting pressure on suppliers to reduce costs. The retailer asked vendors to spend less on in-store advertising so that Walmart can maintain its promise to offer lower prices than competitors. And last week it was reported that the retailer asked suppliers to support its Savings Catcher program.
Fonte:http://www.fierceretail.com/story/walmart-founding-family-sell-company-shares/2015-04-13?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal