Retail in Asia

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Vingroup rules out sale of retail chain to Japan’s 7-Eleven

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Vietnamese property giant Vingroup has ruled out sale of its convenience store chain, VinMart+, brushing aside reports that Japan’s 7-Eleven was acquiring it.

“We will not sell the VinMart+ chain at any offered price,” said a Vingroup statement, denying plans to offload its retail unit. A media report said 7-eleven was planning to take over Vinmart+ to facilitate its expansion in Vietnam by establishing 100 stores in the first three years.

Apart from real estate, retail is Vingroup’s second largest business operation. Its retail chain is expanding aggressively with a pipeline to open 80 more supermarket outlets and an addition of 1,500 VinMart+ locations.

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“On a business perspective, there is no such possibility that we will sell out thriving unit to another player,” said the company.

The group has its own agribusiness arm VinEco. Its retail ecosystem includes other brands such as shopping mall operator Vincom, fashion chain VinDS and electronics retailing unit Vinpro.

Meanwhile, Vietnam will be 7-Eleven’s 19th market as the convenience store operator sets to open its first outlet in Ho Chi Minh City. 7-Eleven also has stores in other Southeast Asia countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

M&A has been a preferred choice for growth for international retailers in Vietnam. For hyper retail operation, Vietnam has witnessed two major acquisitions in 2016, the $711 million deal of TCC Holding acquiring Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam, and the $1.1 billion takeover of Big C Vietnam by Central Group.