Thai firm may bid for Carrefour

Berli Jucker Plc, 70 percent owned by Thai liquor baron, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, may bid for Carrefour’s retail operations in Thailand, consisting of 40 “big box” stores. Earlier this month, Carrefour announced it may divest its operations in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in order to refocus on its core markets of India and China, where it sees greater growth potential.

Details of the bidding process are still unsettled.

Berli Jucker , has just completed the acquisition of Malaya Glass Products in Malaysia and is now the largest manufacturer and marketer of glass packaging in the region, with five manufacturing plants in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia and a combined production capacity of 3,300 tons per day.

The company is concluding an acquisition of a trading company in Vietnam, and working on setting up a tissue paper manufacturing plant.

Berli Jucker continues to seek acquisition opportunities that offer an internal rate of return of 10 percent or more over funding costs and synergies with the firm's existing operations.