Thai supermarket chain picks banks for US$1b IPO
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SUPERMARKET and convenience store company Big C Supercenter has picked Bank of America and UBS to help with a Bangkok initial public offering (IPO) of about US$1 billion, said sources with knowledge of the matter.
Big C has also chosen four local banks for the potential first-time share sale, the sources said. The IPO could happen as soon as this year, they added, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Bloomberg News reported in November 2022 that the Bangkok-based unit of conglomerate Berli Jucker had sounded out to investment banks for proposals in the offering.
Berli Jucker is owned by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the richest person in Thailand, with a net worth of US$16.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The slate of banks was first reported by financial magazine IFR. The sources said that deliberations were ongoing, and details of the IPO, such as size, timing and the banks involved could still change.
Big C’s planned offering would be Thailand’s biggest since Thai Life Insurance raised US$1.02 billion in a July 2022 listing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The deal would boost the South-east Asian nation’s IPO market, which hosted US$4.1 billion worth of deals in 2022, roughly flat from the year before.
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Founded by Thailand’s Central Group in 1993, Big C was listed on the Bangkok stock exchange in 2012, and taken private in 2017 by Berli Jucker.
As at the end of September 2022, Big C operates 1,819 stores in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. These include convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets. In August 2022, the company launched an official storefront and digital shopping cart on the Line social media app for all its hypermarkers and supermarkets.
Representatives for Berli Jucker, Bank of America and UBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BLOOMBERG
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