Industrial experts believe that Big C Supercentre and Berli Jucker might be the two best candidates to take over the local operations of Carrefour.
Carrefour, the French conglomerate and the world's second-largest retailer, is planning to leave Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and is seeking offers for its units in these countries.
A source in the local retail industry said he did not think existing giants like Big C and Tesco Lotus would be interested in acquiring Carrefour, because most of their stores were quite close to their French counterpart's outlets.
"Berli Jucker is the only candidate that has never been involved in retail business before. The company has plenty of consumer goods in its portfolio and would do well as a retailer should it take over Carrefour," the source said.
Berli Jucker, a manufacturing and trading conglomerate with liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi as chairman, recently expressed strong interest in bidding to take over Carrefour's operations in the region.
President Aswin Techajareonvikul said Berli Jucker was bidding for Carrefour because going into retail would help the company realise its potential and boost its value in the long run.
However, he said, the company had not received any details of the bidding or acquisition timetable from Carrefour yet. It is evaluating the merits of an acquisition, something many other companies have also shown interest in.
On the other hand, a source from the food and beverage industry argued that the Carrefour takeover should be left to Big C Supercentre. The source reasoned that Charoen had no skills in the retail business, and that his previous retail projects had failed due to the lack of proper management. Plus, the source said, Carrefour outlets were not in good locations because Tesco Lotus often beat them to it.
Another source said Carrefour had made mistakes when starting off in Thailand, and had now decided to pull out because it could not make the sort of money demanded by the head office in France.
"Carrefour positioned itself incorrectly, aiming for consumers in the up-market segment and selling products that can only be consumed by Bangkokians," the source said.
Meanwhile, Supaluck Umpujh, executive vice president of the Mall Group, said she had been hearing rumours about Carrefour pulling out of Thailand since last year.
"Discount stores are a low-margin business, and running such a business is not easy," she said, adding that Thailand had been suffering from political problems for many years. Besides, she said, competition driven by the three major discount store operators in Thailand - Tesco Lotus, Big C and Carrefour - was quite intense.
In addition, she said, some provinces had too many discount stores and consumers had far too many choices.
"I cannot say if we [The Mall Group] are interested in acquiring Carrefour operations in Thailand. Also, Carrefour has not officially contacted us," she said.