Central Group has agreed to sell a 25% stake in hypermarket chain operator Big C Supercenter Plc in Thailand to its rival TCC Group, a move which is believed to help the former raise funds to complete the purchase of Big C assets in Vietnam.

A customer shops at a Big C supermarket in HCMC.

Bangkok Post newspaper reported on the deal based on sources familiar with the matter. The Thai leading retailer, led by tycoon Tos Chirathivat, is expected to raise at least 50 billion baht (around US$1.4 billion) from the sale.

Late last month, Central Group and Vietnamese household appliances retailer Nguyen Kim announced that they had bought the Big C Vietnam assets, which comprise 33 supermarkets, ten stores and the e-commerce website Cdiscount.vn operated by 9,000 staff members, from French retailer Casino Group at a total transaction value of 920 million euros (US$1.05 billion).

In February, TCC Group, led by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, defeated Central Group in a bid to acquire  Big C Thailand assets of Casino Group in a deal worth 3.1 billion euros, even when Central Group owns one-fourth of Big C Thailand’s shares. 

Central Group’s chief executive Tos Chirathivat at that time insisted he had no plan to sell the stake in Big C Thailand because his group was a co-founder of Big C in Thailand 23 years ago.

Big C is currently the leading food retailer in Thailand with over 700 business locations, including 125 hypermarkets, and turnover of 3.4 billion euros last year.

TCC’s flagship retail unit Berli Jucker Plc holds a 58.55% stake in Big C Supercenter Plc and now it would acquire a 25% stake from Central Group.

Central Group is expanding its business operations in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. It owns many shopping malls and store chains worth nearly US$10 billion.

Since July 2011, Central Group has forayed into different fields in Vietnam like electronic appliances, sports, fashion, shopping centers, restaurants and hotels, e-commerce and supermarkets.

As of February, Central Group had over 6,600 staff at four shopping malls, 27 sports stores, one hotel, 21 home appliances stores, one e-commerce business, one fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributor, and 13 supermarkets in Vietnam.