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Tag: TCC

  • Introducing the largest integrated real estate project in Bangkok

    Introducing the largest integrated real estate project in Bangkok

    Described as “a city within a city”, Thailand’s largest integrated development, One Bangkok, is being launched as a joint project by TCC Assets (Thailand) and Frasers Centrepoint (FCL).

    Incorporating green-sustainability principles, the development covers 104 rai (16.7 ha), and will increase green and open areas in the city centre by 50 rai when it opens in 2021.

    One Bangkok 3

    One Bangkok will be the largest private-sector property development initiative undertaken in Thailand, with an estimated investment value of more than THB120 billion (about US$3.5 billion).

    “The fundamental aim in the planning and design of One Bangkok is to enhance Bangkok’s stature as a key gateway city in Asia,” says TCC Group and FCL chairman Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

    One Bangkok 1

    A fully integrated “city-within-a-city” district, One Bangkok will comprise retail and leisure offerings within differentiated precincts, next-generation office buildings, luxury and lifestyle hotels, ultra-luxury residential towers, civic areas, and art and culture amenities as well as greenery and open spaces.

    Leased from the Crown, the land is in a prime location at the corner of Wireless and Rama IV Roads, next to Lumphini Park and with direct linkages to mass transit systems.

    “We are very honoured to be entrusted by the Crown Property Bureau to turn this important plot of land in the heart of the city into a showpiece district,” says Sirivadhanabhakdi.

    “With One Bangkok, I hope to enhance global confidence in Thailand as the epicenter of Asean and a key gateway and lifestyle city in Asia.”

    One Bangkok - Opening Ceremony

    Shared vision

    For the “game-changing” endeavour, he says he has placed his confidence in two TCC Group companies – TCC Assets (Thailand) and Frasers Property. “They are companies that perfectly complement each other and can, together, fulfill our shared vision of a quality development.”

    For the JV, TCC Assets hold an 80.1 per cent interest, with Frasers Property Holdings (Thailand) holding the balance of 19.9 per cent. Frasers Property is the international property brand of FCL, a multi-national real-estate company with more than US$17.6 billion in assets.

    One Bangkok 5

    “By forming such a strategic alliance, we are able to combine the financial strength and local know-how of TCC Assets, with the enormous international property development expertise of Frasers Property, which has an impeccable global track record of award-winning development projects,” says Sirivadhanabhakdi.

    “The partnership will ensure that we have the creativity, capability and capital to bring to life one of our most exciting development initiatives,” says FCL Group CEO Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi. “No single development of this scale and diversity has ever been undertaken in Thailand.”

    He says One Bangkok will attract top-level local and multinational companies to set up headquarters in the district. “It is Bangkok’s first fully integrated ‘people-centric’ development, designed around how people can seamlessly live, work and play, seeking to reinstate a sense of human scale in a way that enhances comfort and convenience.”

    He says One Bangkok’s development philosophy is centred on diversity of uses and architecture, overlaid with sustainability principles and sensitive to the local social and cultural context, incorporating Thailand’s heritage and aspects unique to Bangkok.

    One Bangkok’s CEO Su Lin Soon is supported by a development team of more than 100 specialists.

    “In creating a world-class district in the heart of Bangkok, we envision One Bangkok to be synonymous with Thailand,” she says. “New quality standards, international best practices and diversity in the mix of uses and architecture are fundamental features of the master plan, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, supported by local expertise from Plan Associates and A49.”

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  • Thailand’s Central declares $89.6 mln tax on Big C Vietnam deal

    Thailand’s Central declares $89.6 mln tax on Big C Vietnam deal

    Thai retail giant Central Group has declared around VND2 trillion (US$89.6 million) in tax on its acquisition of Vietnam’s biggest foreign-owned supermarket chain Big C, local media reported.

    Big C Vietnam, which declared the tax on behalf of its new owner, has paid VND380 billion ($17.03 million) of the amount, Tuoi Tre newspaper said on Monday, citing an unnamed source from the Ministry of Finance. The rest is expected to be collected later.

    The source did not comment on why the sum was much lower than the official estimate of VND3.6 trillion ($159 million) by the ministry’s General Department of Taxation.

    In June the department sent letters to Central Group and France’s Casino Group, the chain’s former owner, demanding them to pay tax on the $1.04 billion deal and threatening to block the ownership transfer.

    It reportedly said in the letters that the companies were far behind their tax obligation. According to the department, Vietnam’s laws stipulate that businesses have 10 days to pay taxes on the sale of their holdings after their negotiation is completed. The Big C deal was made public on April 29.

    At the end of last month, the tax authority reminded the companies of the tax again, saying they will be fined 0.05-0.07 percent per day for late payment.

    Big C is the largest foreign-owned retail chain in Vietnam with 33 supermarkets and 11 convenience stores. Many big players such as Vietnam’s largest retailer Co.op Mart, Japan’s Aeon, Thailand’s TCC and South Korea’s Lotte were interested when Casino announced its sale plan at the end of last year.

    Vietnamese electronics retailer Nguyen Kim, 49 percent owned by Central Group, also joined the Thai conglomerate in the acquisition of Big C. Their respective stakes have not been disclosed.

  • American ice cream to the rescue

    American ice cream to the rescue

    American ice cream is coming to the rescue of a coal trader in Thailand, as the company diversifies in the face of volatility in its segment.

    Thai Capital Corporation (TCC) has diversified into F&B retail after totally acquiring NYC-Thai BD from its shareholders for 33.82 million baht (about US$950,000).

    It is TCC’s first foray into the F&B sector, while NYC has retail outlets specialising in frozen desserts, smoothies and ice creams under the Emack & Bolio’s trademark. This is an American brand founded in 1975 and brought to Thailand in 2012. It has six stores in Bangkok.

    TCC CFO Kamphol Patana-anukul says the company bought 400,000 shares of NYC with a par value of 10 baht each. After the transaction is complete, it will increase NYC’s registered capital from 4 million to 20 million baht, which will be used as working capital and for expansion.

    TCC had 203.7 million baht in sales revenue for the first quarter, down 27.4 per cent from the same period last year, hit by fierce competition in the coal business and a drop in global coal prices.

    Several other Thai companies have also diversified into F&B, including Impact Exhibition Management, which has expanded into the frozen bakery business.

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  • Foreign retailers in Vietnam under attack

    Foreign retailers in Vietnam under attack

    Complaints by Ho Chi Minh City businesses about foreign retailers in Vietnam have sparked the prime minister to order an investigation.

    Members of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA) say the growing number of foreign retailers in Vietnam have a loose rein to expand at a pace that will eventually hurt local companies.

    HUBA has sent at least two letters to the government raising questions about the legality of some business activities by foreign retailers, reports Thanh Nien News.

    Vietnam laws forbid foreign businesses to distribute products such as rice, cane sugar and cigarettes, but these items are still available at the supermarkets and convenience stores of most foreign retailers, including South Korea’s Lotte and Big C, Tuoi Tre reports.

    Following the complaints, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered relevant agencies to check into foreign retailers, including mergers and acquisitions.

    Media reports say Mega Market Vietnam, which owns Metro wholesale stores, is expected to be first to face the scrutiny. The stores were originally run by Germany’s Metro before being acquired by Thailand consumer group TCC this year.

    Statistics show that Vietnam is home to more than 700 supermarkets and 132 shopping malls, mostly in the main centres of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

    Meanwhile, Hanoi Association of Supermarkets chairman Vu Vinh Phu says a supermarket in the northern city of Hai Phong had its revenue fall 30 per cent six months after a foreign superstore opened.

    Foreign companies now control more than half of Vietnam’s retail market, says the association, and many producers complain they are struggling to have their products in foreign supermarkets mainly because the retailers ask for high discounts, says HUBA vice-chairman Pham Ngoc Hung.
    Meanwhile, products from countries such as Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are becoming more and more popular.

    Vietnam’s retail sales rose 10.6 per cent from 2014 to VND2469 trillion (US$109.4 billion) last year, official figures show.