VietNamNet Bridge - Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam has been officially transferred to TCC, a giant firm from Thailand. Big C, which has been put up for sale, is also expected to be bought by a Thai company by the end of the first quarter of 2016 at the latest.

Big C Thang Long in Hanoi

A rumor has been spread among Vietnamese retailers that the Central Group, a Thai conglomerate owned by Thailand’s richest billionaire Tiang Chirathivat, is moving ahead with negotiations for taking over Big C, while the deal is expected to get wrapped up by the end of March.

Central Group is a familiar name to Vietnamese. It is the shareholder holding 49 percent of stakes of Nguyen Kim, a large home appliance distribution chain. It has recently made heavy investment in the fashion chains of Robins, SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance.

Big C Vietnam had turnover of $546 million, a very modest figure if noting that it was just equal to 50 percent of that of Co-op Mart and 16 percent of Big C Thailand

Bizlive found that after Casino Group in December 2015 announced it would sell Big C chains in some markets, including Vietnam, significant changes to the management board occurred with Big C Vietnam. 

The new CEO and legal representative for all subsidiaries of Big C chain is Guillaume Gerard Marie Seneclauze, who has replaced James Alfred Scott and Laurent Guy Zécri.

Big C has also adjusted the charter capital of some subsidiaries. Big C An Lac Company Ltd, a joint venture which runs Big C An Lac in Tan Tao Industrial Zone in HCMC, has seen the charter capital rising to VND422.8 billion. The Hong Kong-based Cavi Retail Ltd is reported as holding 80 percent of capital, while Vietnamese Binh Chanh Construction & Investment holds 20 percent.

Big C chain now runs 32 supermarkets throughout the country, 10 convenience stores in HCMC and Cdiscount.vn, an e-commerce website. In Vietnam, Big C has teamed up with some Vietnamese partners which have large retail premises to set up legal entities for business development.

The retailer is believed to be one of the most formidable rivals in the domestic market as it regularly launches sales promotion programs, offering very competitive selling prices to attract buyers.

The retail chain pioneered distributing products under its private brands and in developing neighboring markets instead of focusing on the two largest cities of Hanoi and HCM City.

However, according to Retail Asia 2014, Big C Vietnam had turnover of $546 million, a very modest figure if noting that it was just equal to 50 percent of that of Co-op Mart and 16 percent of Big C Thailand, which means that it did not make a big contribution to Casino Group’s turnover.

Vu Vinh Phu, deputy chair of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, when meeting the local press in late last December, also predicted that he was sure by 80 percent that Big C would fall into Thai hands.


Bizlive