Casino Group sells Asian assets
French retailer Casino Group is letting go of its Big C stores in Vietnam and Thailand, according to Vietnam’s tuoitrenews.vn.
The decision is part of its “deleveraging plan” of more than two billion euros (US$2.2 billion), which means disposing non-core assets and real estates in Asia and Colombia.
It is also in line with the group’s strategy to focus on its core markets such as France and Latin America.
Casino Group is experiencing sustainable growth rate from its more than 600 Big C Thailand stores and 42 Big C Vietnam outlets, however, its combined $2.12 billion revenues are only less than 10 percent of the retailer’s total global sales in the first six months.
“The sale of the Vietnam business could raise 750 million euros ($813.86 million), while setting up real estate investment trusts in Thailand and Colombia could net 550 million euros ($596.8 million) and 200 million euros ($216.98 million), respectively,” reported tuoitrenews citing Bloomberg and Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.
