Australian supermarket giant Woolworths signed a deal last Friday to divest the Queensland business of its Australian Independent Wholesalers (AIW) subsidiary.

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United Star Supermarkets will be purchasing the operations for an undisclosed sum.


Woolworths revealed its intention to exit the wholesaling business in June, when it filed a statement with the Australian Stock Exchange which said: “Successful negotiations now pave the way for independent retailers to have involvement in their own distribution channel and ensures that retailers have a choice of warehouses and are able to capitalise on direct negotiations with manufacturers.”

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