Thailand’s CP Group strengthens presence in Malaysia’s retail sector

 Thailand’s biggest conglomerate has acquired the operator of Village Grocer supermarkets in a RM1.66 billion deal.

The addition of 35-plus Village Grocer supermarkets gives CP Group a strategic foothold in Malaysia’s upmarket food retail segment. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group has ramped up its presence in Malaysia’s retail sector with the acquisition of the company operating the Village Grocer premium supermarkets.

Its retail arm CP Axtra Public Company Ltd has completed the acquisition of Navis Capital Partners’ stake in The Food Purveyor via its subsidiary Lotus’s Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which also owns the Lotus’s hypermarket chain in Malaysia.

The transaction’s estimated value was RM1.66 billion when it was first announced in March 2026 by CP Axtra.

The Food Purveyor also operates Ben’s Independent Grocer, BSC Fine Foods, Pasaraya OTK and The Food Merchant.

The company was founded by the Ong family which opened its first Village Grocer store in Bangsar in 2004. Private equity firm Navis had invested in The Food Purveyor in 2014.

In a statement yesterday, Navis managing partner Rodney Muse said CP Group’s experience in food retailing will significantly boost The Food Purveyor’s product offering, logistics capability, technology adoption and international reach.

CP Group, Thailand’s largest conglomerate, is aggressively growing its presence across Southeast Asia at a time of soft consumer sentiment in its home market.

The group already has a major retail presence in Malaysia through Lotus’s, formerly Tesco, which it acquired back in 2020. There are now over 70 Lotus’s outlets nationwide.

In an earlier statement, CP Axtra said it was drawn to The Food Purveyor for its access to locations unattainable by Lotus’s hypermarkets as well as the growth of the premium grocery market in Malaysia.

The acquisition adds 55 stores across Peninsular Malaysia to CP Axtra’s portfolio, pushing its combined nationwide network past 120 outlets. More importantly, the 35-plus Village Grocer supermarkets give CP Group a strategic foothold in the country’s upmarket retail scene.

Its main competitor in the high-end supermarket segment is Jaya Grocer which operates over 56 outlets across Malaysia.

Southeast Asia’s biggest ride e-hailing and delivery firm Grab Holdings Ltd acquired a majority stake in Jaya Grocer Holdings Sdn Bhd in a deal worth up to RM1.8 billion in 2022.

The privately held CP Group is controlled by the Chearavanont family, which holds an estimated US$53.3 billion (RM217 billion) in net wealth.

Several of the group’s subsidiaries are listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand including CP Axtra, which has a market valuation of approximately US$4.69 billion (RM19.1 billion) as of September 2026. - FMT