Tesco’s US$10b sale is Asia’s biggest 2020 deal

Britain’s largest supermarket chain said it plans a 5 billion-pound ($6.6 billion) special dividend after the sale of the assets to Chearavanont’s Charoen Pokphand Group. The U.K. grocer is gaining a cash infusion as it focuses on its home market, where it’s cutting thousands of jobs.

TESCO Plc agreed to sell its Asian businesses to Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont for more than $10 billion, clinching a record deal in Thailand even as the coronavirus outbreak damps enthusiasm for mergers and acquisitions worldwide.

Britain’s largest supermarket chain said it plans a 5 billion-pound ($6.6 billion) special dividend after the sale of the assets to Chearavanont’s Charoen Pokphand Group. The U.K. grocer is gaining a cash infusion as it focuses on its home market, where it’s cutting thousands of jobs.