Retail

  Seoul / AFP South Korea’s Lotte Group said on Monday it was scrapping an initial public offering worth almost four billion dollars amid a widening investigation into alleged embezzlement by its founding family. Hotel Lotte — the group’s key unit — had planned to list shares worth at least 4.6 trillion won ($3.9 billion) on Seoul’s main stock market …

  New York / Bloomberg It’s time for Urban Outfitters to re-think its thing for physical stores. Shares in the hipster-chic retailer dropped by as much as 9 percent after it warned investors, in a quarterly results filing, of falling sales in the current quarter. More than half a dozen Wall Street analysts subsequently cut their share-price targets. The consensus …

  Shanghai / Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is preparing to name its China head, Sean Clarke, as the chief executive officer of the UK supermarket chain Asda, Sky News reported. Wal-Mart may make an announcement as soon as this week, although the timing of the change is unclear, according to the broadcaster, which cited unidentified people. Andy Clarke, CEO of …

  New York / Tribune News Service Anne Hatfield, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, didn’t immediately respond to a Globe phone call and email messages. The Express stores that were closed were much smaller than what Wal-Mart calls a supercenter. The Express stores were 12,000-15,000 square feet compared with 180,000 square feet sported by the big stores. Noel Mayor John Lafley …

  Washington / Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is discussing plans for a stand-alone music service, separate from its Prime subscription, with record labels, according to a person familiar with the matter. The technology giant hasn’t reached any deals yet, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The $9.99-a-month service may be introduced in the coming months, …

  London / AFP Britain’s biggest retailer, supermarket group Tesco, said it was selling its Turkish business as its international arm focuses on its operations in Central Europe and Southeast Asia. Tesco, which is slowly turning around its performance after a record annual loss in 2014/15, said in a statement it was offloading also its mainly British restaurant chain, Giraffe, …

  Wellington / Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc’s New Zealand business and the country’s largest pay-television provider, Sky Network Television Ltd., agreed to a NZ$3.44 billion ($2.4 billion) merger as they grapple with increasing competition. The global mobile-phone operator will own 51 percent of the combined entity, the companies said in a joint statement Thursday. Sky Network is issuing new stock …

New Delhi / Bloomberg Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos pledged to invest $3 billion in India, in a big bet on the growth of online shopping in the fast-growing South Asian economy. Speaking in Washington DC as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States, Bezos told a gathering of business leaders that he saw “huge potential” in India. …

  Taipei / Bloomberg Apple Inc. sold $1.38 billion of dollar bonds in Taiwan while Canada’s Manulife Financial Corp. also priced $1 billion of securities, as such debt offerings in the jurisdiction jump amid demand from insurers. The sales bring issuance of such corporate securities to $23 billion for the year, up 53 percent from the same period in 2015, …

  California / Bloomberg GE Ventures bought a stake in Germany’s Sonnen GmbH to boost its presence in the fast-growing market for battery systems built to store solar power. GE’s unit is paying a “mid double-digit million-euro” sum for a minority stake in the company, according to a statement by Wildpoldsried, Bavaria-based Sonnen. The company said other investors are considering …