Lotte Shopping is exploring the takeover of a discount store chain in Vietnam, seeking a foray into one of the few high-growth markets amid global economic woes.

“We’re exploring the acquisition of the Big C retail chain in Vietnam and have participated in a preliminary bid on March 10,” the Seoul-based firm said in a regulatory filing Friday. 


Owned by French retailer Casino Group, Big C runs 32 outlets across the country. Thailand’s TCC Holding and Central Group are among the suitors who submitted primary bids for the chain, Bloomberg reported. The sale could fetch as much as $800 million, it said.

Lotte Shopping last year opened the 11th outlet of its supermarket chain Lotte Mart, with plans to expand the franchise further into smaller cities. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, the two biggest cities in Vietnam, the Korean company runs department stores.

Meanwhile, the company plans to raise 250 billion won ($210 million) in a bond offering next month to repay maturing debt, local reports said Sunday. The company must pay back debt worth 477 billion won maturing April 7. It will face another batch of convertible bonds, worth 145 billion won, maturing in July.

Lotte Shopping is rated BBB by Fitch and Baa2 by Moody’s. Its ratings outlooks were both recently changed to “negative” from “stable,” which means that a rating downgrade is likely in the near future.

The negative outlooks reflected deterioration in Lotte Shopping’s bottom line last year. The company swung to a net loss of 346 billion won in 2015.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)