Central Group takes control of Vietnamese electronics retailer

The largest retailer of Thailand acquired the stake through an indirect subsidiary. The acquisition was revealed when Central Retail Corp. (CRC), a subsidiary of the Central Group, completed an IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on February 20.

According to CRC’s newly publicized financial statements for 2019, in June last year, an indirect subsidiary of the company, which held a 49 percent in Vietnam’s NKT New Solution and Technology Development JSC (NKT), bought out the remaining 51 percent in the company. NKT wholly owns and operates electronics store chain Nguyen Kim.

The indirect subsidiary paid a total of VND2.6 trillion ($112.15 million) for the stake in NKT, CRC said in its financial statement. 

The transaction brings CRC’s holdings in NKT to 81.5 percent, up from 40 percent, it said.

The Nguyen Kim electronics store chain was founded in 1992 in Ho Chi Minh City, and is said to operate over 70 stores nationwide.

The Central Group has bought out supermarket chain Big C Vietnam from France’s Casino Group in 2016 for over $1 billion.

The Thai corporation, which entered Vietnam in 2011, runs 32 shopping centers and 215 retail stores nationwide, and said last year it plans to open 20 new hotels in the country.