Uni-President Enterprises to acquire half of LOPIA’s shares in Taiwan; attention sparked by LOPIA’s Japan-style supermarket new store location in Xindian

Local retail leader Uni-President 7-Eleven announced that it will invest NT$2.054 billion to acquire 51% equity in Uni-President’s Taiwan LOPIA retail supermarket business, and 49% equity in Uni-President’s Taiwan LOPIA food processing business. Uni-President will partner with Japan’s OIC Group via a joint venture to jointly expand Taiwan’s food retail market. Previously, LOPIA has indicated that its next location will be in Xindian District, New Taipei City, and the site selection for the Xindian store has also drawn attention.

Uni-President 7-Eleven acquires half of Taiwan LOPIA with NT$2 billion

Uni-President 7-Eleven announced a strategic cooperation with Japan’s OIC Group. It will spend approximately NT$2.054 billion to obtain 51% equity in Taiwan LOPIA’s retail supermarket business and 49% equity in Taiwan LOPIA’s food processing business. The two sides will establish a joint-venture cooperation structure to jointly expand Taiwan’s food retail market and deepen its layout in fresh foods and prepared foods. However, the transaction still requires approval from the Fair Trade Commission that does not prohibit the combination, with settlement expected at the earliest by the end of 2026.

LOPIA is a chain supermarket brand originating from Japan. In recent years, it has gained popularity in Taiwan under the slogan “a Japanese version of Costco,” but it is not a membership-based wholesale outlet; instead, it focuses on high-quality, low-price Japanese-style food supermarkets.

The most representative feature of LOPIA is attracting customers with meat products, fresh foods, prepared foods, sushi, sashimi, desserts, and Japanese imported goods. In particular, items such as black-haired wagyu, pizza, unagi donburi, fried foods, and tiramisu often become the focus of community “unboxing” posts and lines.

Will LOPIA’s new store be located at the Yulon City or Carrefour?

This investment in LOPIA is also seen as an extension of Uni-President’s recent acceleration of integrating Taiwan’s wholesale, supermarket, and food retail footprint. Uni-President Group was previously a shareholder of Carrefour Taiwan. In 2023, it completed buying back the remaining equity in Carrefour Taiwan from the French company. The final transaction value, later approved at around NT$30.1 billion, allowed Uni-President to formally gain control of Carrefour Taiwan and become a key domestic leader in convenience store and retail/wholesale distribution channels.

Now, by taking a stake in LOPIA through Uni-President, it effectively adds another piece to its puzzle for Japanese-style fresh-and-prepared-food supermarkets, beyond 7-ELEVEN and Carrefour. Notably, LOPIA recently revealed it plans to open a store in Xindian District, New Taipei City, so the store site—after Uni-President’s investment—has drawn extra attention. The market originally speculated it might be located at Yulon City in Xindian, but Carrefour is directly across from Yulon City. If LOPIA ultimately enters that area, whether it creates positive competitive overlap among different business formats within the Uni-President system will also become a focus for retail industry observers.

This article “Uni-President 7-Eleven acquires half of Taiwan LOPIA’s shares; LOPIA’s new-store location sparks attention” first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.