In early February, Central Pattana, a member of Central Group (Thailand’s leading conglomerate), officially established a legal entity in Vietnam named CPN Global Company Limited. The company is primarily engaged in real estate and has a charter capital of 20 billion VND, with Central Pattana holding 100% of the shares. Representing the entity in Vietnam is Mr. Chanavat Uahwatansakul.
According to research, Central Pattana is a subsidiary of Central Group – a Thai conglomerate directly managed by the Chirathivat family. The Chirathivat family is currently the fourth richest family in Thailand with an estimated wealth of over 12 billion USD.
Currently, Central Pattana is the largest retail real estate developer in Thailand. In addition to shopping centers, Central Group also develops various projects such as office buildings, residential areas, and hotels through Central Pattana.
In an article published on BangkokPost on March 9, 2023, CEO of Central Pattana Wallaya Chirathivat stated that they will invest in mega projects over a period of 5 to 10 years, with each project covering an area of more than 350,000 square meters and an investment of over 20 billion baht (approximately 14,000 billion VND) per project.
Vietnam and Malaysia are countries being targeted by Central Pattana due to similarities in culture, consumer behavior, and an existing retail system from the Central Group.
“Vietnam is an important market that we want to explore despite the various regulations that we have to overcome. We hope to announce something about Vietnam sometime in the middle of this year,” said Wallaya Chirathivat.
Regarding Central Group, they have been investing in Vietnam since 2012 through their subsidiary Central Retail. The brands under Central Retail’s management in the food sector include Central Food Hall, Tops Market, Tops Daily, Tops Superstore, Tops Online, Family Mart, GO!, Mini go!, and Lan Chi supermarket.
The fashion sector includes Central shopping centers, Robinson shopping centers, Supersports, Central Marketing Group (CMG), and Rinascente. The household electronic sector includes Power Buy, Thai Watsadu, Baan & Beyond, Auto1, vFIX, OfficeMate, B2S, meb e-book, and Nguyễn Kim. Finally, the real estate management sector includes Robinson Lifestyle retail stores, Tops Plaza in Thailand, and GO! supermarkets (Big C) in Vietnam.
According to Central Retail’s Q2/2023 financial statement, the Vietnamese market generated 25,879 million baht (over 17,000 billion VND) in revenue for the group in the first half of the year. In 2022, Central Retail also led in terms of revenue with over 36,000 billion VND, distancing itself from a series of competitors.
Seeing Vietnam as a key market, Central Retail announced a $1.45 billion investment in Vietnam over the next 5 years. In the 2023 – 2027 period, the company aims to double the number of stores to 600 and have a presence in 57 out of the 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. Central Retail also aspires to become the leading omnichannel food retailer and the second-largest player in the real estate – shopping center sector in Vietnam by 2027.
At the beginning of last year, a foreign online newspaper reported rumors that Central Group could acquire a large stake in a major retail real estate business in Vietnam. Subsequently, a subsidiary of Central Group, Central Retail, denied these rumors.
