Some others predict that Lotte's latest move signals something very different, for example, its foray into electronic manufacturing. With almost 500 outlets under its wings, Lotte may attempt to produce private label goods to sell in the stores. If that happens to be the case, Lotte is expected to become a strong contender to the No. 2 position in the electronics industry unseating LG Electronics.

Seoul, Aug 12 (Whowired) -- Lotte Shopping ended up acquiring home appliance retailer Hi-Mart while Shinsegye gave up on a battle to buy up Electro Land (ET Land). Of the two retail giants, who will be the real winner of the acquisition wars?

On July 6, Lotte Shopping officially agreed with Hi-Mart to take over a 65.25-percent stake in the company. The price tag was 1.48 trillion won, or a per-share price of 81,026 won. Hi-Mart is Korea's largest electronic goods retailer with a 34.9-percent share of the market last year with a sales revenue of 3.4 trillion won.

Meanwhile, the share accounted for by the electronic goods shops within Lotte Marts (95 stores nationwide) and standalone Digital Park locations (12) remains at a 5-percent level. Once 315 Hi-Mart stores go under the Lotte management, the number will rise to 459 including department store locations. The combination of Lotte and Hi-Mart is thus expected to create a powerful behemoth.

In contrast, Shinsegye suddenly pulled out of the contest to purchase ET Land on July 2 after becoming a preferred bidder for the electronic goods retailer on May 25. The reasons behind the Shinsegye's decision are that the number of ET Land stores was much lower than that for Hi-Mart and the brand image of ET Land in the mind of consumers is associated with a low-margin, disreputable seller of knock-off goods.

With these developments, some industry watchers rush to make a conclusion that Shinsegye has thrown a towel in a battle against Lotte. Indeed, Lotte's Hi-Mart acquisition will be a big burden to Shinsegye, given the latter is expanding aggressively in the home appliance area in China and domestic premium outlets.

Some others predict that Lotte's latest move signals something very different, for example, its foray into electronic manufacturing. With almost 500 outlets under its wings, Lotte may attempt to produce private label goods to sell in the stores. If that happens to be the case, Lotte is expected to become a strong contender to the No. 2 position in the electronics industry unseating LG Electronics.

Alastair Kim (press@whowired.com)