Thai retailer CJ Express Group Co is looking at a possible initial public offering (IPO) in Bangkok to raise $500-800 million, according to a Bloomberg report.
Sources interviewed in the report said the Thai supermarket company is working with advisers on an IPO that could take place as soon as next year. The size and timing of the offering could change, the sources said.
Founded in 2005 by energy drink tycoon Sathien Setthasit, CJ Express operates supermarkets and other retail outlets. It has about 900 branches in 40 provinces in Thailand and plans to further expand to the other 37 provinces.
Setthasit is the CEO of Carabao Group, manufacturer of one of Thailand’s most popular energy drink, Carabao Dang Energy Drink.
The planned listing comes as the IPO market in Thailand, which is widely regarded as the most vibrant in Southeast Asia, has hit a speed bump in 2022.
As on November 11 this year, only $2.5 billion was raised from 28 IPOs on Thailand bourses — the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and its secondary bourse the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) — show data from global accounting firm Deloitte.
Not only was this a 43% fall from the $4.4 billion raised from 41 IPOs in 2021, it also marked the first decline in IPO fundraising since a minor dip in 2018, according to Deloitte’s data.
The SET predicted in November that the volume of IPOs will be on a par with that in 2021, according to a DealStreetAsia report. As of October 31, 2022, around 12 companies have already received application approval for primary and secondary listings from the SET and are expected to kick off public trading in Thailand’s stock exchanges this year itself.
Some of the country’s upcoming IPOs include that of pet food maker I-Tail Corp, which is expected to list this month, and Big C Supercenter, which is looking at raising more than $500 million next year. In June, Thai Life Insurance Pcl raised about $1 billion.