Jaya Grocer Malaysia is attracting the interest of private equity firms wanting to buy a shareholding of up to 49 per cent.
Creador, TPG Growth and a Japanese fund based in Singapore have been shortlisted in a deal said to value the supermarket chain at about RM175 million (US$43.8 million), reports The Star. It quotes sources as saying the exercise for the sale of an equity stake began last year.
Other firms initially interested in a shareholding included the Abraaj Group and Navis Capital Partners.
Jaya Grocer is owned by Trendcell, with its 16 outlets posting RM18 million in earnings last year. The chain opened its first outlet in Petaling Jaya in 2007, and now has outlets in such malls as the Empire Shopping Gallery, KLIA2 and The Intermark.
Jaya Grocer was founded by the Teng family, which also founded Giant Hypermarket and Teng MiniMarket Centre (TMC) in Bangsar. The family sold the Giant chain to Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm group in 1999 for an undisclosed amount. Meanwhile, TMC has been wholly owned and run by GCH Retail (Malaysia) since 1980. Also run by the Teng family is Pasaraya Hero, launched in 2010.
It is unclear if the current sale process, being run through an open-bid system by Deloitte, includes these supermarkets.
Meanwhile, Navis has invested in Jaya Grocer competitor Village Grocer the Big Group, which runs Ben’s Independent Grocer.