Japanese retail development
begins to show signs of life

Royal Ahold to quit Southeast Asia

Asia-Pacific’s largest mall set
to open in KL this October

First Courts store opens in Phuket

100 Lotus Supercenters in
China by 2006: CP Group

Revamps, renovations,
repositioning — S’pore malls go
all out to lure shoppers

HK’s CRE to slow expansion
plans in China

Schroder buys first retail
property in HK

Ikea’s largest Asian store
opens in Shanghai

Taipei 101 Mall set to open later
this year

Malls in S’pore fight back SARS
scare

OG to leave Great World City in
S’pore when its lease expires

More outlets outside Bangkok:
SF Cinema

Thailand’s Seacon Square earmarks Bt107 million for upgrades

 

ROYAL AHOLD TO QUIT SOUTHEAST ASIA

Will this Tops store in Bangkok go too?

Financially troubled Dutch retailer Royal Ahold is divesting its operations in Southeast Asia.

The company has agreed to sell its chain of 34 Tops supermarkets and one distribution center in Malaysia to Hong Kong-based food and drug chain Dairy Farm International Holdings for an undisclosed sum.

Dairy Farm’s purchase, expected to be completed in the third quarter, will boost the number of supermarkets it owns in Malaysia to 47. The Tops supermarket will be rebranded as either Cold Storage supermarket or Giant hypermarket.

“The acquisition will reinforce Giant’s position in Malaysia by expanding Giant’s presence outside the Klang Valley,” Dairy Farm’s regional director for South Asia, Mr Michael Kok, told reporters. The purchase includes six Tops supermarkets in East Malaysia.

Royal Ahold’s entry into Malaysia in 1996 was via a joint venture with Perlis Plantations Group Bhd, a subsidiary of the Kuok Group, a leading conglomerate in Malaysia. In 1998, it acquired 27 supermarkets run by Parkson Corp Sdn Bhd for RM88.23 million (US$22.9 million). It then acquired three supermarkets operated by Kerry’s Department Stores and seven Looking Good supermarkets.

In 2000, Perlis Plantations sold its 35% stake in the joint venture to Royal Ahold for RM61.8 million.

Analysts say Royal Ahold’s exit from Malaysia is to cap further losses that the company may incur. The company has yet to register profits since its entry.

Royal Ahold has also announced the sale of its retail activities in Indonesia to PT Hero supermarket, which Dairy Farm has a stake. The sale, amounting to Euro 12 million, involves 22 stores (including one under construction) and two distribution centers.

The Tops supermarkets will be rebranded as Hero supermarkets, increasing Hero’s network to 111 supermarkets.

Royal Ahold had pulled out of Singapore and China in 1999 and only retains a presence in Thailand. However, market talk is rife that the firm is expected to quit Thailand too.

The Dairy Farm International Holdings is listed on the London Stock Exchange and it operates 2,300 outlets ranging from supermarkets and hypermarkets to home furnishings stores and restaurants across Asia. A member of the Jardine Matheson Group, its total sales for 2002 amounted to US$4 billion.