Casino confident could exceed asset sale target

Shares in Big C finished up 9.7 percent as investors cheered an up to $3.5 billion deal by France’s Casino Group to sell its majority holding in the Thai hypermarket operator to TCC Group, owned by whiskey tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. The Vietnam unit sale had been planned earlier. Casino has said it plans to raise 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) by selling assets this year, including its operations in Thailand and Vietnam. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s in January put the French retailer’s debt on “negative watch” for a possible downgrade to junk status, citing concerns over weakness in Brazil and the retailer’s debt.

In a significant step to reduce mounting debt levels, French retailer Group Casino has sold its controlling stake in one of Thailand’s largest supermarket chains.

The sale is expected to be completed by 31 March 2016.

A deal would add to the $50.6 billion of acquisitions in Southeast Asia over the past 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

TCC, which owns the maker of Chang Beer among other assets, outbid Thailand’s biggest retailer Central Group to push into a retail sector that is expanding along with the number of middle class consumers.

With over 700 outlets across Thailand, Big C’s market capitalisation nears €4.bn, while its annual revenue for 2015 totalled €3.4bn.

With the news of Big C now under his belt as well, there seems to be no sign of Charoen slowing down in the coming year. Last month, Mr. Charoen’s TCC Group closed a EUR655 million acquisition of Metro Group’s cash & carry wholesale business in Vietnam. He became a household name in 2013 when he bought a controlling stake in Singapore-listed conglomerate Fraser & Neave that valued the firm at $11 billion.