Siam Global wants to expand with top supermarket’s owner in the Philippines

Thai home improvement retailer Siam Global House Public Company Ltd has partnered with the owner of the Philippines' top earning supermarket to pursue plans to set up shop in the country. A joint venture agreement between Siam Global and the Philippines' Cosco Capital Incorporated for the establishment of Global House Philippines Co. Ltd. and Global House Philippines Estate Co., Ltd. was signed on 17 June 2022 in Roi Et, Thailand.

According to a statement posted by Siam global on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Cosco would establish Global House Philippines to operate modern trade retail stores and related businesses to distribute building materials and home improvement products in the Philippines. Also, the company would found Global House Philippines Estate to own lands to develop Global House stores in the Philippines.

Cosco, in a separate disclosure to the Philippine bourse, affirmed that the joint venture will “operate a one-stop warehouse for building and construction-related materials, home and garden decorative goods, home improvement goods, construction equipment, and tools”.

Controlled by billionaire couple Lucio and Susan Co – who have a combined net worth of USD 1.75 bn, according to Forbes Magazine – Cosco is the twelfth largest conglomerate in the Philippines in terms of gross revenues, based on the 2021 iteration of BusinessWorld Publishing Corp.'s Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines. It owns, among other companies, Puregold Price Club, the country's top earning supermarket. Puregold raked in revenues of 125.88 bn Philippine pesos (PHP, EUR 2.189 bn) in 2021 and was the country's ninth highest grossing company in the country overall.

As of March 2022, it had 504 stores nationwide across all of its brands – a network that Global House Philippines could possibly take advantage of once operations are underway.

Siam Global disclosed in October 2021 its intention to expand to the Philippines, a country of 110 million people whose home improvement industry is forecast to grow 8.9 per cent annually to PHP 385 bn by 2023. The Thai powerhouse had indicated that it would own 55 per cent of Global House Philippines and 40 per cent of Global House Philippines Estate.

The Philippine foray is part of Siam Global's renewed interest to tap Southeast Asian markets. Earlier this year, it completed the acquisition of a 22 per cent stake in Indonesia's PT Caturkada Depo Bangunan, a retailer of building materials, decorative items, hardware, construction and…