3 Thai billionaires with plans to dominate Vietnam's retail industry 3
1. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi
Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi was born in 1944 and is originally from Guangdong, China.
His identity appears on the list of Boards of Directors of 8 organizations operating in the fields of beverages, real estate, retail…
Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi became better known after BJC acquired Metro Vietnam.
In Vietnam, this billionaire is better known after the acquisition of the Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam wholesale chain earlier this month for nearly 880 million USD, through Berli Jucker Company (BJC) – the unit he owned.
Berli Jucker has been preparing for a plan to dominate the Vietnamese market since 2012, with the opening of a factory to produce glass bottles and beverage cans.
According to the 2013 financial report, Berli Jucker’s revenue was about 42.8 billion baht (1.3 billion USD), net profit was 2.4 billion baht (70 million USD).
In addition to BJC, billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is also Chairman of Fraser & Neave and alcoholic beverage manufacturer ThaiBev.
Not only present in the retail and consumer goods sectors, this Thai billionaire has also invested in real estate since the 2000s, through a company called TCC Land that owns many hotels and large plots of land in the US and UK.
2. Dhani Chearavanont
Born in 1938, according to Forbes, Mr. Dhani Chearavanont owns a fortune of 11.5 billion USD as of June 2014, ranking second on the list of Thailand’s richest people.
Billionaire Dhani Chearavanont is known as the king of poultry feed.
This billionaire is currently Chairman of Charoen Pokhphand Group (CP Group), a multi-industry corporation operating in the fields of agriculture, telecommunications, marketing, distribution, import-export, petrochemicals, real estate, and insurance.
In Vietnam, CP Group began its presence in 1990 with a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, and now has a company named CP Vietnam Livestock in Bien Hoa, Dong Nai.
According to information on the company website, C.P Vietnam holds 7% of the pork market share, 16% of the industrial chicken egg market share and about 22% of industrial chicken meat in Vietnam.
In the retail sector, this group owns the 7-Eleven brand in Thailand, a store model that operates 24/7, providing all consumer needs from food, cosmetics to office supplies.
According to Forbes, in the past year, stocks of brands held by CP Group have always grown by double digits, such as 44% increase at 7-Eleven, Charoen Pokphand Foods increased 28%.
In the Metro acquisition deal, according to information in the international press, this billionaire also offered to buy the wholesale chain in Vietnam for 500 million USD, but was rejected.
3. Chirathivat family
Like the two billionaires above, Chirathivat is a Thai-Chinese family.
Tos Chirathivat is currently the head of business operations of Thailand’s richest family.
The Chirathivat family owns many companies in the retail, real estate, hotel and restaurant sectors.
According to Forbes’ ranking in June 2014, the Chirathivat family’s total assets amounted to 12.7 billion USD, becoming the richest people in Thailand. Over the past year, Central Group’s revenue also increased by 27%,
In Vietnam, the Chirathivat family had its first presence through the newly opened Robins shopping center in Hanoi in April 2014.
