Corporate

Thailand’s antitrust agency under scrutiny over $11 Billion Tesco Deal Approval

With the Tesco deal approved, CP Group will gain control over a network of about 2,000 hypermarket and grocery stores across Thailand, and the group already operates 7-Eleven convenience stores and the Siam Makro chain.

Published

6 months ago

November 9, 2020

Olivier Languepin

Thailand’s largest conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) won on Friday the Thai antitrust agency’s approval for acquisition of retail giant Tesco Lotus: the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) voted 4:3 in favour of the US$10-billion takeover deal.

CP Group will gain control of a network of about 2,000 hypermarket and grocery stores across Thailand, and the group already operates 7-Eleven convenience stores and the Siam Makro chain, a wholesale trading business.

But CP Group is barred from other modern-retailing mergers for three years, excluding e-commerce, Thailand’s Office of Trade Competition Commission said Friday.

Billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont’s family is ranked the world’s 13th richest in a Bloomberg report.

But academics have questioned the OTCC decision, saying that Tesco acquisition can potentially damage trade competition in Thailand.

According to Nipon Poapongsakorn, distinguished fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute the commissioners apparently failed to carefully look at the big picture where CP, via the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, and its targeted acquisition of Tesco Lotus, can dominate in all three market segments: wholesale, discount, and convenience stores, as reported in The Nation.

In some provinces, the combined market share of CP distribution, network would be between 80 to 90 per cent, he added.

Investment

Thailand Q1 Investment Applications Soar 80% as FDI More Than Double says BOI

The top three source countries of FDI applications during the first quarter were South Korea, China, and Singapore, with similar levels of investment. Korean investment soared due to a large-scale joint venture in the medical sector, Ms Duangjai said.

Published

1 week ago

May 7, 2021

Pr News and BOI

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) said today that in the first quarter of 2021, investment applications rose 80% from the year earlier period to a total value of 123.4 billion baht (USD3.9 billion), led by projects in the medical and electric and electronics (E&E) sectors, as foreign direct investment (FDI) applications more than doubled.

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Corporate

The 3 key barriers to remote working (and how to overcome them)

COVID-19 created the world’s largest remote working experiment and, for many, showed just how possible it was for employees to do their jobs without being at the office.

Published

2 months ago

March 26, 2021

Daniel Lorenzzo

Following the real-world experiment with remote working, it’s time for business leaders to re-examine their previous misgivings, and explore how to adopt flexible working in the long term

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Corporate

Digital transformation: what will be the long‑term effect of Covid‑19?

For many businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic was the catalyst for their organisational caterpillar to evolve toward digital transformation. Yet following the crisis, it remains to be seen which companies will emerge with wings – and which will simply be crawling along slightly faster than before.

Published

2 months ago

March 23, 2021

Daniel Lorenzzo

The outbreak of Covid-19 forced the rapid adoption of remote working practices and an acknowledgment of the importance of digital transformation. Following the pandemic, what will the lasting impact be?

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