Vietnam’s top mobile retailer kicked out of Thai-purchased shopping malls

The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World Group-MWG), Vietnam's biggest retailer of mobile devices, has had to close 22 stores at Big C shopping malls following the supermarket chain's recent acquisition by a Thai firm.

As these stores accounts for just a small proportion of MWG’s revenue, the change “did not cause any significant impact on revenue growth of MWG in August,” MWG said in a January-August business report sent to shareholders on September 16.

Central Group announced last April that it had bought Big C’s operations in Vietnam from France's Casino Group for EUR1 billion (US$1.14 billion).

In early 2015, Power Buy, a unit of Central Group’s Central Retail Corporation, purchased a 49% of stake in Nguyen Kim electronics shopping center operator, a competitor of MWG in Vietnam.

MWG had 1,017 stores across Vietnam as of the end of August. It posted revenue of VND27.028 trillion (US$1.18 billion) in the first eight months, jumping 78% on-year. Net profit reached VND1.12 trillion, 74% higher than the same period last year, the company report showed.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers also complained in May that Big C, following the acquisition deal with Central Group, has asked for higher discounts as part of new contracts for 2016.

The new rates would increase by up to five percent to about 17% to 20%, and even 25% for some products.