Tesco pulls out of Asia market

TESCO is to hand back £5billion to shareholders after agreeing to sell its outlets in Thailand and Malaysia.

Britain’s biggest supermarket announced a one-off dividend after confirmation of the deal, worth around £8.2billion.

Tesco has agreed to sell its south-east Asian business to CP Group, Thailand’s biggest conglomerate, presided over by Dhanin Chearavanont, the country’s second richest man.

In December, the supermarket confirmed that it was considering a sale of its Asian operations as part of a strategic review and had been approached by a potential buyer.

Last month, Tesco also exited China after selling its stake in the Gain Land joint venture for £275million.

The company said it received multiple offers for the Asian division and believes the disposal “will realise a significantly higher value than could be generated from Tesco’s continued ownership and investment”. Tesco said the deal, which is expected to complete in the second quarter of this year, will “further simplify” the business and leave it with operations only in Europe. It said it will now focus on business in the UK and Ireland, where it has 3769 stores, as well as its eastern European operations, where it has 895 sites. Chief executive Dave Lewis said: “Following inbound interest and a detailed strategic review of all options, we are announcing today the proposed sale of Tesco Thailand and Tesco Malaysia. “This sale releases material value and allows us to further simplify and focus the business, as well as to return significant value to shareholders.”

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