Thai Central Group denies rumors that Chinese own Big C Vietnam

By Thi Ha July 19, 2016 | 04:19 pm PT

The company said it is wholly owned by a Thai family.

Thailand’s Central Group, which earlier this year bought into Big C Vietnam has rejected news that the supermarket chain is in fact owned by Chinese people.

Information recently circulated on social media, said to be from a lawyer working in Ho Chi Minh City, has pointed out that Big C is owned by three Chinese companies with one having 99.98 percent stake and the two others controlling 0.01 percent each. The “lawyer” also said although the legal representative of the supermarket is Thai, he is just an employee hired by the Chinese owners and does not have any share in Big C.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Central Group denied the information, saying the company is fully owned by a Thai family. Central Group said the so- called “evidence” that the “lawyer” showed has been photoshopped. The company was established in 1947 by Tiang Chirathivat and is still run by Chirathivat family, it said.

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In a Big C Vietnam supermarket. Photo by VnExpress

Central Group announced on April 29 this year that it had bought Big C’s operations in Vietnam from France's Casino Group at a cost of 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion).

The company runs eight business categories in Vietnam with its retail business posting sales of Baht 40 billion ($1.13 billion) in 2015, on par with sales in Europe.

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