An electronics store operator under Thai retail conglomerate Central Group has acquired a 49 percent stake in the company that owns Nguyen Kim, one of the largest electronics malls in Vietnam, local media reported Tuesday.

Newswire VnExpress cited a report Power Buy, a leading Thai electronics store operator, submitted to the Thailand stock exchange as saying that it has completed a deal to buy a 49 percent stake in the NKT New Solution and Technology Development Investment JSC, which is the owner of Nguyen Kim Trading JSC.

The operator is a member of the Central Retail Corporation, the retail unit of Central Group, which is majority owned by the Chirathivat family.

The family is Thailand’s second-richest, according to a 2013 ranking by Forbes Magazine. Power Buy has 80 stores across Thailand.

Nguyen Kim is among the biggest electronics shopping center operators in Vietnam, currently running 23 stores nationwide, according to its website.  

VnExpress quoted a Power Buy person in charge of media relations as saying that the investment will help the Thai firm to expand its electronics retail network in Vietnam.

The Power Buy representative also refused to disclose the value of the deal, but revealed that Philippe Broianigo, general director of the Vietnamese unit of Central Group, will be the chief executive at Nguyen Kim, according to VnExpress.

Economic newswire The Saigon Times Online also reported that Power Buy has invested in Nguyen Kim Trading JSC, citing a source familiar with the matter.

A media representative with Central Group confirmed – without elaborating – Power Buy’s investment in Nguyen Kim to The Saigon Times Online, saying only that a person from the Thai side will be the CEO of the Vietnamese shopping center operator.

Nguyen Kim’s chairman of the board of directors, Nguyen Van Kim, will retain his position, according to the two newswire.

A high-profile employee from Nguyen Kim told The Saigon Times Online that only the company’s superiors can release official information about the deal.

Nguyen Kim has been attracting foreign investors to buy stakes in it so the deal is not a surprise, the newswire said, citing the same source from Central Group.

The electronics retailer has been valued at US$200 million, Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper said, quoting Forbes Vietnam as saying in its January 2015 issue.         

Founded in 1992, Nguyen Kim has targeted to account for up to 40 percent of the market share in 2015.

Central Group is already present in Vietnam through the SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance stores, which operate under Central Group units or under franchise agreements with Vietnamese partners, according to The Saigon Times Online.

With these stores enjoying success in the market of 90 million people, Central Group has opened two Robins fashion department stores in the Southeast Asian country.

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