Navis, PE firms vie for Carrefour's Southeast Asia assets

Reports citing sources close to the process note that the large number of first-round bidders will likely prompt the French hypermarket chain to select a shortlist of buyers. Navis has been pegged as leading a consortium of contenders, though the group is said to only be looking to buy Carrefour's assets in Singapore and Malaysia. As Carrefour has 40 stores in Thailand, 23 in Malaysia and two in Singapore, according to its website, the company may split the business between two buyers, one for its Singaporean and Malaysian assets and a second for its Thai business.

Retailers including Dairy Farm, owner of Southeast Asia chain Cold Storage; Japanese group Aeon; the UK's Tesco Plc.; and Groupe Casino from France are also looking to pick up the assets.

Reports further note that Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand attributed to 4.5%, 1.2% and 8.7%, respectively, of Carrefour's Asian sales in 2009. The company has operations in China and Indonesia - its two largest markets in Asia Pacific - which it plans to keep, though it had exited Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan in recent years.

 

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southeast Asia
• Navis Management