Wesfarmers, an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, demerged its unit into Coles Group, an Australian public company operating numerous retail chains, in a deal valued at $11.8bn. Wesfarmers retained 15 % stake in Coles. “Demerging Coles enhances Wesfarmers’ prospects of delivering satisfactory returns to shareholders by shifting our investment weighting and focus towards businesses with higher future earnings growth prospects.” Wesfarmers Chairman Michael Chaney.