BANGKOK – Thailand’s competition regulator has given the nod for British retail giant Tesco to sell its supermarket businesses to the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), despite monopoly concerns.
The US$10.6 billion (RM43.76 billion) sale to Thailand’s biggest conglomerate was first flagged in March, and also covers Tesco’s operations in Malaysia.
“The majority of commissioners agreed that the merger of those businesses (could create) market dominance... but it’s not a monopoly,” said the Thai Office of Trade Competition Commission in a statement yesterday.
The regulator said CP Group is not allowed to pursue other retail merger deals in the next three years.
Thai Retailers and Wholesalers’ Association president Somchai Pornrattanacharoen, who was on the regulator’s vetting committee, last month publicly expressed concerns that the deal will grant CP Group a monopoly, according to local media.
It is a boomerang sale of sorts – Tesco has nearly 2,000 grocery stores across Thailand that it bought from CP Group during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The Chearavanont family and its patriarch, Dhanin, who control CP Group, are worth an estimated US$27.3 billion and top Thailand’s list of 27 billionaires, according to Forbes.
Tesco, in a statement, said it is waiting for CP Group to receive a formal regulatory approval notice, and that it will make a further announcement when appropriate.
CP Group, which has interests spanning food, telecommunications and high-speed rail, has not commented on the regulator’s decision. – AFP, November 7, 2020
