Thai giant accelerates into commercial center real estate sector

Capital injection and establishment of a legal entity in Vietnam are stepping stones to create momentum for Central Group's ambitions in the Vietnamese market.

In early February, Central Pattana, a member of Central Group (a leading multi-industry group in Thailand), officially established a legal entity in Vietnam under the name CPN Global Company Limited. This enterprise operates mainly in the real estate sector, with a charter capital of 20 billion VND and 100% of its shares are held by Central Pattana. The representative in Vietnam of this legal entity is Mr. Chanavat Uahwatansakul.

Central Pattana is a subsidiary of Central Group - a Thai corporation directly managed by the Chirathivat family. The Chirathivat family is currently the 4th richest family in Thailand with an estimated fortune of more than 12 billion USD.

Central Pattana is currently the largest retail real estate developer in Thailand. In addition to shopping malls, Central Group also develops many office, residential, hotel projects... through Central Pattana.

In an article published in BangkokPost on March 9, 2023, Central Pattana CEO Wallaya Chirathivat said that he will invest in mega projects over a period of 5 to 10 years, each project will be larger than 350,000 square meters with an investment of more than 20 billion baht (about 14,000 billion VND) per project.

Vietnam and Malaysia are the countries that this unit is targeting due to similarities in culture, consumer behavior and the existing retail system of Central Group.

Despite the many regulations it has to overcome, Vietnam is an important market the group wants to tap.

Central Retail Vietnam aims to achieve business results of 100 billion baht, equivalent to 65,000 billion VND.

In the next 5-year plan, from 2022 - 2026, Central Retail Vietnam aims to achieve business results of 100 billion baht, equivalent to 65,000 billion VND.

Central Group has been investing in Vietnam since 2012 through its subsidiary, Central Retail. Brands under Central Retail's management include Central Food Hall, Tops Market, Tops Daily, Tops Superstore, Tops Online, Family Mart, GO!, Mini go!, and Lan Chi supermarket in the food sector.

The fashion segment includes Central shopping malls, Robinson shopping malls, Supersports, Central Marketing Group (CMG) and Rinascente. The consumer electronics segment includes Power Buy, Thai Watsadu, Baan & Beyond, Auto1, vFIX, OfficeMate, B2S, meb e-book and Nguyen Kim. And finally, the real estate management segment includes retail units Robinson Lifestyle, Tops Plaza in Thailand, GO! Supermarket (Big C) in Vietnam.

Early last year, a foreign online newspaper reported rumors that Central Group might buy shares of a large Vietnamese retail real estate company. Later, a subsidiary of Central Group, Central Retail, denied the rumors.

At the same time, Central Retail announced it would invest 100 billion baht ($3.03 billion) to expand its business over the next five years.

More than half of the planned new facilities will be mixed-use projects, with shopping malls being a key component. The company will also explore expanding into other business areas.

Central Retail invests in key markets such as Vietnam with about 1.45 billion USD. In the period of 2023 - 2027, the company aims to double the number of stores to 600, present in 57 out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. Central Retail also has the ambition to become the number one multi-channel retailer in the food industry and number two in the real estate - commercial center segment in Vietnam by 2027.

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