Thailand’s Big C Retail Corporation has put off its planned initial public offering (IPO) due to turbulent market conditions, becoming the second IPO candidate to shelve listing plans this week.
Big C is a subsidiary of Berli Jucker, a conglomerate controlled by Thailand’s wealthiest person, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi of the Charoen Pokphand Group.
The Bangkok-based company had filed its IPO application in March and was reportedly looking to raise around $1 billion from its debut on the local stock exchange, according to a Bloomberg report in January.
“The company is still confident in the growth of businesses that are recovering from the pandemic… We will closely monitor the conditions of the equity capital markets and revisit the IPO plan again when the overall market situation shows signs of improving,” Big C CEO Aswin Techajareonvikul said in a statement.
The news comes a week after Techajareonvikul told the South China Morning Post that the company is planning for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Bangkok as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The Thai supermarket operator has acquired Hong Kong-based grocery chain AbouThai, which has 24 locations in the city, he said in the same report.
Big C is the second IPO candidate to postpone its listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand this week as investor confidence has been marred by stock market scandals and the delayed formation of the new government, which was just finalised last Tuesday.
On Monday, Thailand-listed industrial conglomerate Siam Cement announced that it had scrapped the IPO plan for its petrochemical subsidiary Siam Cement Group Chemicals (SCGC), citing unfavourable market conditions.
Big C operates convenience shops, supermarkets, and hypermarkets across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
