BERLIN: Central Group is quietly negotiating to take over a popular department store in Germany in a bid to enhance its retail brand recognition abroad. An industry source said the deal was expected to be settled in the coming months. The giant retail group recently announced it would allocate 10 billion baht to expand its business in Europe this year through mergers and acquisitions.
Germany is not the first… country for Central Group to have a presence in Europe. In mid-2011, the group bought the 150-year-old La Rinascente Department Store in Italy for €260 million (11.3 billion baht at the time). In 2013, the group added Illum, a 120-year-old Danish department store, to its portfolio. After that, the group also expanded into several Asean members including Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
