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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – French retail giant Carrefour plans to sell
its business in Malaysia, a minister said, amid speculation the
firm will also offload its Singapore and Thai stores and exit
Southeast Asia altogether.
"We heard that Carrefour is considering divesting. It is for the
purpose of rationalisation of their overseas business," deputy
trade minister Mukhriz Mahathir told AFP late Monday.
"They want to sell their business (in Malaysia)," he said,
adding that "other hypermarkets are keen to take over" Carrefour's
23 stores in the country.
"There are many suitors," he said.
Low Ngai Yuen, Carrefour's marketing and communications
director, declined to respond to the comments.
Yeah Kim Leng, group chief economist with financial research
firm RAM Holdings, said Carrefour's impending departure from
Southeast Asia had been well flagged.
"The news has been around for some time. It is an open secret
that Carrefour wants to pull out from Malaysia, Thailand and
Singapore. They have put feelers out to the industry on their
plan," he said.
Yeah said Carrefour wanted to consolidate its business and move
its resources to the booming Indian market.
"It is not surprising for them to move to India. The middle
class segment is a large expanding group," he said.
The New Straits Times newspaper last month reported that
Carrefour had put a tag of 1.0 billion dollars collectively on its
business in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Yeah said the growth of the hypermarket industry in Malaysia was
not spectacular compared to the opportunities presented by the
fast-growing Indian market but that it remained profitable.
"The hypermarket industry in Malaysia is dynamic and very
competitive," he said.
"Given the growth potential in the region, we will likely see
other players buying Carrefour. Players that exit will be able to
find suitors."
Other players in the Malaysian market who are possible buyers of
the Carrefour outlets include Britain's Tesco, Japan's Jusco, and
Giant, which is owned by the Dairy Farm group.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100824/bs_afp/malaysiafrancesingaporethailandretailcompanycarrefour_20100824054659