France's Casino Group officially sold its Big C supermarket in Viet Nam to the Thai Central Group for 1 billion EUR (US$ 1.14 billion), the French group said in a statement.

Casino, which owns 58.6% of Big C, said buyers had already expressed interest in the Thai group. 'The group is taking steps towards the sale of this asset,' Casino said in a statement. He bought the French retailer’s majority 58.6-per-cent stake in Big C Thailand for 3.1 billion euros (Bt124 billion) in February. Central in partnership with Nguyen Kim Group recently acquired Big C Vietnam from Casino for 920 million euros.

NautaDutilh advised Casino on Dutch law aspects in connection with the disposal of its stake in Big C Thailand and Vietnam.

NautaDutilh advised Casino on Dutch law aspects in connection with the disposal of its stake in Big C Supercenter PCL, listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand ('Big C Thailand'), for EUR 3.1 billion (excluding debt) to the TCC Group, one of the leading conglomerates in Thailand, with operations in the retail, commercial and industrial business, food and beverage, finance and insurance, property and real estate, agricultural and agro industrial sectors. Big C Thailand is a leader in food retail and commercial real estate in Thailand, operating a large network of more than 700 stores, including 125 hypermarkets, with a turnover of EUR 3.4 billion in 2015. The transaction closed on 21 March 2016.

Casino Big C Thailand Map

NautaDutilh also advised Casino on Dutch law aspects in connection with the sale of Big C Vietnam for an enterprise value of EUR 1 billion (proceeds for Casino: EUR 920 million) to Central Group, one of the main family-owned conglomerates in Thailand with interests in real estate, department stores, retailing, hospitality and restaurants. Big C Vietnam is a leading food retailer in Vietnam, operating a network of 43 stores and 30 shopping malls, with a turnover excluding taxes of EUR 586 million in 2015. The transaction closed on 29 April 2016.

The transactions are part of Casino's EUR 4+ billion deleveraging plan.

NautaDutilh had already advised Casino on various other transactions, including the creation and subsequent IPO of Cnova N.V.

The NautaDutilh team included Leo Groothuis, Hein Hooghoudt, Jaap Stoop, Paul van der Bijl, Stefan Wissing and Pieter van Drooge (all Corporate M&A). In both transactions, NautaDutilh cooperated closely with Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier (Casino's French lead counsel).

Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has secured the 58.6 per cent stake in Big C Thailand from French retailer Group Casino after a short bidding process.

The controlling interest will be bought by Charoen’s holding company TCC Holdings which late last year bought the Metro Vietnam business from Germany’s Metro AG for €655 million and is the front runner to acquire the Big C Vietnam operations also.

TCC will pay Group Casino €3.1 billion ($3.46 billion) which the French company will use to pay down its debt.

Big C Thailand Website

Group Casino put the Big C Thailand stake on the market after receiving expressions of interest in the business when it announced it was selling Big C Vietnam and after a credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poors. It earlier said it was looking to sell both interests to the same buyer, although the future of the Vietnam business has yet to be confirmed.

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has clearly outbid the favoured buyer, Thailand’s Central Group, which holds a 25 per cent stake in Big C Thailand. He owns a controlling interest in Berli Jucker Group, whose assets include the B’smart convenience store chain in Vietnam, the 70-strong English language bookstore Asia Books in Thailand and a long list of consumer products brands.

Berli Jucker was to buy the troubled Vietnam Metro business, but TCC took over the acquisition direct after a shareholder revolt blocked the investment.

Big C Online Thailand

The price paid by TCC for Big C Thailand values the business at almost $5.86 billion.

Big C Stores In Thailand

Source: https://insideretail.asia/2016/02/08/tycoon-outbids-central-for-big-c-thailand/