VietNamNet Bridge - It is 80 percent possible that Big C will be taken over by investors from Thailand, as Metro Cash & Carry has also been sold to a Thai group, BJC, according to Vu Vinh Phu, chair of the Hanoi Supermarket Association. 

It is 80 percent possible that Big C will be taken over by investors from Thailand.

Bloomberg some days ago reported that the French Casino Group is going to sell Big C Vietnam as part of its restructuring plan. Many Vietnamese people find the decision enigmatic. 

Phu also said on Dat Viet that the news was surprising to him, because Big C has been performing well over the last 17 years since it debuted in Vietnam.

It is highly possible that Big C would be sold to foreign investors.

However, Hoang Khai, chair of KhaiSilk Group, said it was normal for any business to come to Vietnam when it finds big business opportunities and leave when it finds that profits are no longer attractive.

When asked who the buyer was, Phu said it was highly possible that Big C would be sold to foreign investors. 

An analyst, agreeing with Phu, saying that he cannot see any possibility of Vietnamese businesses taking over the supermarket chain, because Vietnamese investors are not sufficiently financially capable. 

Co-op Mart, which is considered a big player in the retail industry, also has modest capital of VND1 trillion. Meanwhile, Hapro, another retailer, is believed to be busy dealing with problems as its network in Hanoi has become smaller.

“There is only 10 percent probability of Vietnamese investors taking over Big C,” he said.

Bloomberg quoted a Sanford C. Bernstein expert as saying that Big C may be transferred in a deal worth $800 million. 

“Vietnamese won’t think of buying Big C because they don’t want less than 50 percent of capital, because the modest ownership ratio won’t bring them management power,” he explained.

Phu from the Hanoi Supermarket Association said he strongly believed that Big C would fall into Thai hands.

“Thai leaders once stated that Thais would turn Indochina from a battlefield into a market,” he said.

President of Thai BJC Group, when speaking of the takeover of Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam, said that 60 percent of goods to be displayed at 19 Metro supermarkets after the takeover would be from Thailand.

The statement, in the eyes of analysts, once again showed Thai’s strong determination to penetrate the Vietnamese market.

Local newspapers, quoting renowned experts, have repeatedly warned that Thai investors have increasingly shown a stronger presence in Vietnam in all business sectors, from manufacturing to distribution. 

If Thai investors can obtain Big C, they would hold 32 big distribution centers in the central areas of Vietnam. And if BJC buys Big C as well, it would have 51 supermarkets in Vietnam, thus becoming a super distributor which would have major influences on the market.


Kim Chi