CP Group has scrapped plans to sell its 36 CP Lotus supermarket stores in China to Wumart.

In October, the Thai company reached a deal with Wumart to sell its stores in Beijing, Shanghai and most provinces in China, excluding South China’s Guangdong Province and Central China’s Hunan Province, for HK$2.3 billion (US$302 million).

The two also discussed a share swap in which Wumart would buy 10 per cent of CP Lotus for HK$548 million (US$70.7 million) and CP Lotus would buy 14 per cent of Wumart for HK$2.9 billion (US$373.08 million).

However, the two recently said they were unable to agree on terms.

CP Lotus is one of the retailers strongly hit by China’s slowdown. Last year, it has reported a loss of 392 million yuan (US$65 million) and has trimmed its network from 75 to 55 stores.

China’s slowdown has also prompted British retailer Tesco to consolidate its 134 Chinese stores with local retailer China Resources Enterprises’ more than 2900 stores.