VietNamNet Bridge - Bloomberg reported that Lotte Group (South Korea), TCC Holding and Central Group (Thailand) have applied to participate in the auction for the Big C Vietnam chain.

To own Big C chain, the investor will have to pay about US$800 million.

To cut debt, Casino Group of France is selling some assets in Asia and Latin America, while focusing on business activities in its largest market - France.

Last year, Lotte Group said it planned to open 60 supermarkets in Vietnam by 2020. The Korean group runs the fast food chain Lotteria, shopping centers, hotels and cinemas in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, in January 2016, TCC Holding of the Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi completed the acquisition of Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam with 655 million euros.

Earlier, many large retail groups wanted to join the race to own the Big C chain in Vietnam, including Singapore's Dairy Farm; Japan's Aeon ...

The sale of Big C Vietnam was decided after Big C Thailand was sold late last month for $3.5 billion.

Casino Group has not made any comment about the new information.

Lotte representative told Bloomberg that they were very interested in the deal.

Meanwhile, TCC Holding and Central Group both declined to answer questions about the deal.

However, in an interview with Techinasia few days ago, the Central Group's CEO Tos Chirathivat seemed to be unsure about the deal because the process of buying and selling Big C Vietnam is a lot more complex than the Big C Thailand.

Lotte Group last year announced plans to open 60 supermarkets in Vietnam until 2020. The purchase of Big C Vietnam can be considered as the easiest way for them to achieve this ambition.

Na Son