KUALA LUMPUR – Navis Capital Partners is gauging potential investor interest in buying out The Food Purveyor (TFP), which operates Village Grocer, Ben’s Independent Grocer, BSC Fine Foods, Leisure Grocer and Pasaraya OTK, in a possible RM1 billion deal.
The Asian private equity firm, which is based here, has also appointed global financial advisory firm Rothschild & Co to gauge the potential deal, sources told Bloomberg.
It was also reported that discussions have yet to be finalised and could possibly fall through.
Rothschild and Navis have declined to comment.
Navis in 2014 bought a majority stake in TFP, which was known as Village Grocer Holdings Sdn Bhd.
However, a source was quoted as saying that other companies and private equity firms have expressed interest in TFP, which manages more than 30 outlets in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Baru.
Supermarket acquisitions have been popular recently with ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd buying a majority stake in Malaysian supermarket chain Jaya Grocer on January 31.
Although online shopping is only 2% of total grocery gross merchandise value in Southeast Asia in the first half of last year, it is estimated to grow to US$50 billion if it reaches 10% penetration.
This is according to a report by Google, Bain & Co. and Temasek Holdings Pte’s e-Conomy SEA research project. – The Vibes, April 20, 2022
