Walmex names Louheiro CEO from February

Mexico's Walmex, the country's biggest retailer, on Thursday named Guilherme Loureiro its new chief executive from Feb. 1.

Loureiro, who was previously CEO of Walmart in Brazil, will take over from Enrique Ostale, who will continue at the company as chief executive of Walmart Latin America, the company said in a statement.

Ostale was CEO of Walmex for just over a year, after previous CEO Scot Rank stepped down in December 2014.

Rank, who now leads dairy company Grupo Lala, led Walmex at the time of a 2012 New York Times report that alleged the retailer bribed local officials to open stores faster. He stayed for around two years after it was published.

A federal probe into the allegations has found few major offenses, and is likely to result in a much smaller case than investigators expected, the Wall Street Journal reported in October, citing people familiar with the situation.

Walmex shares closed up 1.78 percent at 44.00 pesos on Thursday.