A private-equity fund is believed to have won an open bid to buy Malaysian supermarket chain Jaya Grocer.
The fund, managed by CIMB Private Equity (CIMB PE) and Mitsubishi, is believed to have paid about RM300 million (US$74.6 million) for the chain – more than 30 times its price-earnings ratio for this year, reports The Star.
The joint venture is believed to have used the Asean Industrial Growth Fund (AIGF), set up five years ago with an initial $130 million, to acquire the grocery chain. The Southeast Asia-focused PE fund’s investors are mainly from Japan.
Jaya Grocer, AIGF’s first acquisition, has 16 outlets. Owned by Trendcell, it went on the market last year with a price tag of RM200 million.
Other PE firms in the bidding process included Creador and TPG Growth.
Set up by the Teng family, Jaya Grocer opened its first outlet in Petaling Jaya in 2007. It has outlets in the Empire Shopping Gallery, KLIA2 and The Intermark. The family sold the chain to Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm group in 1999.
