When the company subsequently entered Argentina, it did so on a wholly owned basis. After gaining experience with partners, in 1997 Wal-Mart expanded further in Mexico by acquiring a controllinginterest in Cifra, which it renamed in 2000to Wal-Mart de Mexico S.A. de C.V. By 2006,Wal-Mart operated 808 units in Mexico in 30states, achieving annual sales of $15.8billion and employing over 130,000.It accounts for over half of all supermarket sales in Mexico.