Casino is to sell its Big C Vietnam business to Thai conglomerate Central Group for 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) including debt, giving the French retailer further respite from a debt pile that pushed its credit rating to junk.
Casino, facing weak markets in Brazil and fierce competition in France, has said it aimed to raise around 4 billion euros this year by selling off businesses in Thailand and Vietnam plus the sale of real estate assets in Latin America.
Casino will make 920 million euros from the sale, which will take the total raised from asset sales to 4.2 billion euros, the company said.
The retailer was criticised in December by U.S. activist investor Muddy Waters, which said Casino was "dangerously leveraged" and Standard & Poor's in March cut its credit rating to junk.
Casino has rejected the criticism, pledging to cut debt using proceeds from disposals, and promising improved profits and cash flow in its main French market.
"This is another piece of good news for Casino. We estimate the deleveraging plan to add 6 euros per share to Casino's valuation" Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said in a note.
Central, controlled by the Chirathivat family with interests in real estate and retail, beat TCC Group of Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi to take a majority stake in hypermarket operator Big C Vietnam, people familiar with the matter said.
The deal, first reported by Reuters earlier on Friday, will give Central access to Big C's 43 stores in Vietnam and 30 malls that generated turnover of 586 million euros in 2015. It marks Central's most significant overseas acquisition since buying assets in Europe, including the 2011 purchase of Italian department store chain La Rinascente SpA.
Central will team up with Vietnamese electronics firm Nguyen Kim, 49 percent owned by Central, for the Big C deal, Central Vietnam said in a statement.
The two Thai rivals have been expanding into Southeast Asian markets in search of growth. They are betting on Vietnam's demographics and hedging against political and economic uncertainty back home.
Through supermarkets, malls, dairy and beer, they are pursuing deals that could top Vietnam's record $4 billion worth of M&A deals achieved last year..
Casino, which entered Vietnam over 18 years ago, is retreating from Asia as part of its plans to cut debt which totaled 6.1 billion euros at the end of 2015.
In February, Casino sold its stake in Thai hypermarket operator Big C Supercenter PCL for 3.1 billion euros to TCC, which outbid Central.
The Big C Vietnam sale represented a multiple of 1.8 times net sales for 2015. Last year, TCC agreed to buy the Vietnam cash and carry wholesale business of Germany's Metro Group for 1.3 times net sales.
HSBC advised Casino on the sale, while Citigroup and Deutsche Bank advised Central, people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified, said.
