Berli Jucker (BJC), the SET-listed consumer goods manufacturer and owner of Big C Supercenter, has announced a business restructuring plan that separates its portfolio into retail, wholesale, production, imports and exports of consumer products.
Development and leasing of real estate, which is related to the retail and wholesale trade, is also being siloed.
All existing businesses of Big C are combined under the management of Big C Retail Corporation (BRC). BRC has registered capital of 87.1 billion baht, comprising 8.72 billion ordinary shares with a par value of 10 baht each.
BJC plans to list BRC on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and offer its ordinary shares to the public in an initial public offering (IPO) of no more than 29.9% of the total registered capital, which includes overallotment option shares.
After the capital increase and IPO, BJC said the total number of ordinary shares will not exceed 12.4 billion shares.
Following the IPO, BJC will remain the major shareholder of BRC with a 70% stake. BRC is expected to continue to operate as a subsidiary of BJC Group.
BJC appointed Aswin Techajareonvikul as BRC's chief executive and president, effective from June 16, 2023. Mr Aswin said BRC will be the flagship company for retail, wholesale, production, import and export businesses, and the development and leasing of real estate related to retail and/or wholesale businesses.
Products and services via modern trade contribute more than 60% of BJC's revenue. BRC reported revenue of 114 billion baht in 2022 and net profit of 6.75 billion baht. It has total assets worth 337 billion baht.
He said listing BRC will enable it to conduct business more independently. Moreover, Mr Aswin said it cannot only raise funds from the capital market by itself as the company also needs to reach various investment funds to increase its competitiveness and expand its business in the future.
In addition, the plan should promote Big C and other brands under BRC to be more widely known, garner new business partnerships and attract more professionals to drive growth and strengthen business in both domestic and regional markets in the future, he said.
Mr Aswin said IPO proceeds would be used to expand business domestically and overseas, repay debt and as working capital.