Grocer Big C set to do $500m in Thailand IPO

(Bloomberg) – Big C Supercenter Pcl, which runs supermarkets and convenience stores in Southeast Asia, plans to go public again in Bangkok through an initial public offering that could raise more than $500 million, according to reports. people close to the file.

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The Bangkok-based company is probing investment banks for share sale proposals, which could take place as early as next year, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Discussions are ongoing and details of the potential offering such as the size and timing of the fundraiser could still change, the people said. An investor relations representative from Berli Jucker Pcl, the owner of Big C, said he had no information on plans for an IPO so far.

Big C was founded by Central Group of Thailand in 1993 and opened its first store on Chaengwattana Road. The company raised around 4.2 billion baht ($112 million) in a Thai IPO in 2012.

TCC Holding Co., controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, agreed in 2016 to buy a 58.6% stake in Big C for 3.1 billion euros from French retailer Casino Guichard Perrachon SA. Big C was delisted in 2017 after TCC subsidiary Berli Jucker took it private.

Big C operates 1,792 stores including convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to its latest presentation. Earlier this year, the company acquired 18 Kiwi Mart stores in Cambodia and plans to rebrand them as Big C Mini stores.

–With the help of Anuchit Nguyen.

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