The fish department at a Carrefour in Singapore. (Photo: Terje Engoe)

Tesco moves forward with bid for Asian Carrefour stores

UNITED KINGDOM
Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 02:10 (GMT + 9)

UK supermarket leader Tesco has bid on 61 Asian outlets being sold by French superstore juggernaut Carrefour for USD 1 billion. The negotiation is already in its advanced stages.

Carrefour established a 5 November deadline for bids for its stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand so it could put emphasis on its less marginal markets.  

Nineteen of the world’s second largest supermarket chain’s outlets in Malaysia, two in Singapore and 40 in Thailand make up the second round of bids. It is thought that some of the bidders are making offers for different combinations of these operations, but Tesco is aiming to acquire them all. 

Tesco already runs supermarkets in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, China and Japan. Its Asian stores make up about a sixth of the company’s sales.

Tesco's main Asian market is South Korea, which in 2009 generated sales of GBP 4.2 billion (EUR 4.9 billion).

In 2008, Tesco bought the Homever discount retailer in South Korea for GBP 958 million (EUR 1.1 billion) as well as the C Two Network discount operator in Japan, The Guardian reports.

The French retailer has decided to sell these outlets to divert resources into markets in which it believes it can be more successful. At the same time, Carrefour intends to keep its stores in China, accounting for about 70 per cent of its Asian sales, plus those in Indonesia.

Tesco has come to follow the Asian market as a result of its weak performance in the UK grocery market. The company’s sales grew by 4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 5 September, versus a 4.3 per cent jump in the overall UK market, informed Kantar Worldpanel.

Tesco Executive Director Lucy Neville-Rolfe is traveling to China as part of the 43-member business delegation accompanying British Prime Minister David Cameron and four Cabinet ministers, in a two-day trip whose goal is to deepen British exports to the South Asian region, AHN reports.

Related articles:

- Carrefour retreats from Malaysia: govt 
- State firm pulls out of bid for Carrefour 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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