Print this articleEmail this article British and Japanese retail giants along with local operators are in an auction battle to take over the Southeast Asian business of French supermarket chain Carrefour, reports said yesterday.

Britain's Tesco is among more than 10 bidders for Carrefour's assets in the region, which total 61 stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, the Financial Times said.

Singapore-based retail group Dairy Farm and French retailer Casino are also in the bidding, but US titan Wal-Mart has not entered the race, the FT said.

Company executives from Carrefour Singapore and Dairy Farm were not immediately available to comment.

Dow Jones newswires reported that another Singapore retailer, NTUC FairPrice, as well as Malaysia-based private equity group Navis Capital, had placed bids for Carrefour assets in the two countries.

NTUC FairPrice, which describes itself as Singapore's largest retailer, declined to comment on reports that it is interested in acquiring Carrefour's two branches in the city-state.

Executives from Navis Capital's head office in Kuala Lumpur were also unavailable for comment.

Aeon group also declined to comment on a report in the Nikkei business daily that it hoped to expand into Southeast Asia via the Carrefour auction to make up for sluggish consumer demand at home. Japan's Aeon acquired Carrefour's Japanese operations in 2005, five years after Carrefour entered Japan.

AFP