In anticipation of entering the Russian retail market, Walmart is reportedly in talks to acquire 17-year-old hypermarket chain Lenta.

According to Reuters, Walmart is in preliminary discussions with Lenta, which currently operates 36 stores in Russia. The report quoted an anonymous financial source as saying Walmart would be interested in buying the company as a whole.

First-quarter comparable sales for Lenta rose 17.8 percent. In 2009, Lenta posted sales of 55.6 billion rubles ($1.86 billion), up 9 percent over 2008. Analysts estimate Lenta's worth to be between $600 million and $1.4 billion.