The local retail market encountered a cold front
Following the news from CITIC (0267) the previous day that it wanted to reduce its McDonald’s holding, the major shareholders of City Super were also interested in selling. Bloomberg quoted a source yesterday as saying that Japan’s Fenix Group is studying the sale of a majority stake in City Super Group, and the transaction price may be between 300 million and 400 million US dollars, which can reach up to 3.11 billion Hong Kong dollars. Sources point out that the Hong Kong-based Fenix Group is working with financial advisers to assess potential buyers’ interest in their holdings.
Founded more than 20 years ago by Wu Guangzheng
City Super Group was established in 1996. The first branch is located in Causeway Bay. Its three main brands include the supermarket city’super, LOG-ON (new trendy toys, boutiques, personal care, etc.) and the food court cookedDeli. Currently in Hong Kong It has 21 stores, 7 in Shanghai and 7 in Taiwan. There are 35 stores in Greater China.
It is understood that the Sanhuang Group was established by Japanese entrepreneur Masaaki Ogino, and currently still owns a majority stake in City Super Group. According to 2017 data, Wu Guangzheng, former chairman of Wheelock (0020), also holds 39% of the shares. People familiar with the matter said that the discussion is still in its early stages and that Fenix may decide to retain this business. Fenix and City Super representatives both said they would not comment at this time.
Temasek reduced its holdings of Watsons last year
Recent changes in the retail market are indeed changing. In addition to CITIC selling McDonald’s Mainland and Hong Kong businesses, such as Wheelock announced late last year, the decision to privatize its Joyce Boutique (0647) fashion boutique business is also the third time in 12 years that Wu Guangzheng proposed to It’s privatized. At the beginning of last year, Temasek considered selling all or part of its shares in Watsons. However, due to the impact of regulations and Brexit and other events, buyers and sellers could not reach an agreement.
Hutchison halts sale of Park’s Best Deals
Looking back, many retail brands in Hong Kong have operations of buying or selling. The closest one was in 2017, CITIC acquired McDonald’s inland and Hong Kong businesses for about 16.1 billion yuan, and franchise rights for the next 20 years. At that time, CITIC acquired a 52% stake. In 2013, Hutchison planned to put Baijia Supermarket on the market for about $ 1 billion to $ 2 billion. Eventually, it failed to reach an agreement with the purchaser, and the transaction failed. The old owner of coffee chain Pacific Coffee, Chevalier International (0025), was divided into two in 2010 and 2013, totaling more than 410 million yuan, and sold all its equity to China Resources.