By Katrina Nicholas
(Adds details on acquisition from third paragraph.)
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA hired
The French supermarket chain will use money from the one- year bridge loan to help finance its 868 million euro ($1.18 billion) purchase of Carrefour SA’s business in Thailand, said the people, asking not to be identified as details are private.
Big C Supercenter Pcl, a unit of Saint-Etienne-based Casino, agreed to buy 42 stores in Thailand from Carrefour in a transaction announced yesterday. The stores will add to the 111 that already operate under Casino’s Big C brand in the Southeast Asian nation and will give Casino improved purchasing power and more streamlined distribution in the greater Bangkok area, where Big C’s presence will more than double.
Casino media spokesman Frederic Croccel was in a meeting and unavailable for immediate comment when called at his office in Paris today.
The 868 million euros Casino is paying for Carrefour’s Thai assets has drawn criticism from analysts including Bualuang Securities Pcl’s Chaiyatorn Sricharoen, who said the company is paying too much and could generate a better return on its money elsewhere.
Casino, which beat out Tesco Plc for the Thai supermarkets, has $9.2 billion in bonds and loans maturing before the end of 2049, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Contracts insuring Casino’s debt from default rose 3 basis points in the past week to 115 basis points, according to data provider CMA. Its stock was trading up 0.1 percent at 68.04 euros as of 10:50 a.m. in Paris, and is up 9 percent this year.
Shares of Big C Supercenter, Thailand’s second-biggest hypermarket operator, tumbled the most since Oct. 29, 2008, falling 10 percent to 70.25 baht as of the 4:30 p.m. close in Bangkok. The stock surged 13 percent earlier in the day.
For Carrefour, the sale forms part of a plan to sell its businesses in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to focus on China and Indonesia.
--With reporting by Tony Jordan in Bangkok. Editors: Will McSheehy, Tom Kohn
To contact the reporter on this story: Katrina Nicholas in Singapore at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will McSheehy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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