French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA plans to soon seek second-round bids for its Big C grocery chain in Vietnam, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Casino aims to ask for binding offers in the coming weeks, according to the people, who asked not to be identified, as the information is private. Japan’s Aeon Co. was among several parties that submitted first-round bids, the people said. Some offers valued the business at more than $800 million, they said.
Casino is selling assets in Asia and Latin America to cut debt, while focusing on price and convenience stores in its largest market, France, as it competes for growth amid weak consumer spending. A deal would follow Casino’s agreement last month to sell control of Thai supermarket chain Big C Supercenter Pcl to billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Holding Co. for €3.1 billion ($3.4 billion).
Other suitors who had submitted bids for Casino’s Vietnam unit include South Korea’s Lotte Group, as well as Thailand’s Central Group and TCC, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for Casino didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A spokesman for Aeon declined to comment on the deliberations.
Rising retail sales and booming foreign investment are helping the Vietnamese economy expand. Achieving the government’s growth forecast of about 6.7 per cent this year would make the South-East Asian nation one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.
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