Aeon Sets Sights On Carrefour Supermarkets In SE Asia -Nikkei

7th Jul 2010 21:00

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Aeon Co. (8267.TO) is considering snapping up the supermarket stores in Southeast Asia that could become available if France's Carrefour SA (CA.FR) pulls out of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, The Nikkei reported in its Thursday morning edition. Carrefour, the world's second-largest operator of supermarkets, runs a total of some 60 stores in these three countries. But with business proving difficult in the region, the French company has expressed some willingness to sell off the stores. British supermarket giant Tesco Plc (TSCDY) is said to be among the interested buyers as well. Aeon already operates 25 supermarkets in Malaysia and 11 stores in Thailand, and this is an opportunity to move forward with its strategy of expanding in Asia. It will consider location redundancies and property contracts in deciding how many Carrefour stores to acquire and at what price. Aeon took over eight Carrefour stores when the French company pulled out of Japan in 2005. (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 07, 2010 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT)