Aeon to buy Carrefour's Malaysian business - Nikkei

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Japanese retailer Aeon Co is set to acquire France-based Carrefour SA's Malaysian business for slightly more than 20 billion yen ($250 million) as part of its push into Southeast Asia, the Nikkei said.

The deal, which is expected to be completed by next week, will make Aeon, Japan's No.1 supermarket operator, one of the biggest retailers in Malaysia, the business daily reported.

Carrefour, the world's No. 2 retailer, has been struggling to come up with cash to cut debt and fund the revival of its struggling European hypermarkets.

The company said in August it would shut its two stores in Singapore by the end of this year.

Carrefour made the announcement two years after it unsuccessfully tried to sell its operations in Singapore and Malaysia.

Aeon, which has overseas operations in mainland China, Hong Kong and Thailand, plans to open stores in Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia, Nikkei said. ($1 = 80.1650 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Prateek Kumar in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)