Major retail operators are interested in buying a majority stake worth US$2.6 billion in SET-listed Big C Supercenter Plc, the Thai asset of French retailer Casino Group.
Two of the interested groups are Central Group and Aeon (Thailand), the retail unit of Aeon Group in Japan.
Casino, which owns 58.6% of Big C, said buyers had already expressed interest in its Thai hypermarket operation.
"The group is taking steps towards the sale of this asset," Casino said in a statement.
According to a report from Reuters, the expressions of interest came as Casino planned to sell its Vietnam unit in the first half of this year as part of a €2-billion (79.4 billion baht) plan to reduce debt.
An Aeon (Thailand) executive said Big C was attractive and would complement its retail business in Thailand.
"We'll buy it if the price is right," the executive said.
Aeon (Thailand) has an aggressive plan to spend 10 billion baht to expand its retail business over the next five years.
An industry source said Central had been interested in Big C for a long time after failing to bid for the Thai assets of Carrefour in 2010.
"If Central gets Big C, its retail empire will be strengthened and its purchasing power with suppliers will increase a lot," the source said. "Central does not have a hypermarket."
Central operates convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores, shopping malls and speciality stores. In fact, it was a founder of Big C Supercenter and opened the first hypermarket in Bangkok's Rat Burana district in 1993. Central sold its Big C shares to Casino during the 1997 financial crisis.
In late 2010, Casino's Big C bought Carrefour SA's Thai assets in a deal valued at $1.2 billion.
Big C is the second-largest hypermarket operator after Tesco's Thai unit and has a market capitalisation of 163 billion baht.
According to the Reuters report, Casino's unexpected move to sell the Thai unit came after a report last month by Muddy Waters Research LLC said the French retailer was "dangerously leveraged", prompting the worst slide in Casino's stock in seven years.
Casino's Vietnamese unit is an acquisition target for Berli Jucker Plc, Berli investor relations executive Nutt-hathai Thanachairunsiri told Reuters yesterday.
Berli Jucker is the flagship company in the consumer business of tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's TCC Group.
It is too soon to say if Berli Jucker would be interested in buying Casino's Thai unit, Ms Nutt-hathai said.
Warunee Kitjaroenpoonsin, Big C's corporate affairs and marketing communications director, said the company would continue to expand its retail business even if Casino wanted to sell its stake.
This year Big C will open six hypermarkets, three branches of Big C Market and 75 mini Big C stores.
BIGC shares closed yesterday on the SET at 226 baht, up 28.50 baht, in trade worth 236 million baht.