AIGF’s strategic stake in Teng’s Jaya Grocer

July 08, 2020

The Jaya Grocer supermarket chain is managed and controlled by Teng Yew Huat and his son Daniel Teng, 32, who is the Director of Operations. YH Teng was a co-founder together with other Teng family members of TMC (Teng’s Mini-Market Centre) in Bangsar and the Giant hypermarket chain. In 1999 the Teng family sold out the business to Hong Kong based Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited for a bountiful sum.

8 years on YH Teng went back into the grocery business again. This time he started on his own with the first Jaya Grocer supermarket opened in 2007. Within 10 years it had grown to 21 supermarkets with a growing middle class consumer segment drawn to its fresh produce and range of merchandise categories. This attracted the interest of big private equity funds. Teng was not ready to cede management control so he parted with a 45% stake to the Asean Industrial Growth Fund (AIGF) and retained 55%. AIGF is a jointly sponsored Southeast Asia focused private equity fund which is managed by CIMB Private Equity and Mitsubishi Corporation.

YH Teng has a great gut feel about the grocery business and years of proven expertise but even someone of his extraordinary calibre can still make mistakes as some would say with the huge Bangsar Market (54,000 sq. ft) at KL Eco-City Mall which is not coming along well. The idea was good to bring back the feeling of shopping in a fresh wet market which is sophisticated at the same time but the footfall is alarmingly low for the mall. The lockdown worsened the situation. Jaya Grocer is an established name but people are not so familiar with Bangsar Market.

 

Read more:

  1. The Nation Thailand. 25 March 2016. Malaysia’s Jaya Grocer stake sale. www.nationthailand.com
  2. Inside Retail Asia. 5 March 2019. Robert Stockdill. Dairy Farm Group CEO says restructure will take five years. https://insideretail.asia/2019/03/05/dairy-farm-group-ceo-says-restructure-will-take-five-years/
  3. EdgeProp. 25 January 2018. Christopher Lim. Jaya Grocer to open another five stores this year. www.theedgeprop.my
  4. The Star Online. 2 February 2018. Abirami Durai. Malaysian supermarket chain expands its reach. www.thestar.com.my
  5. The Star Online. 16 May 2016. Sharidan M. Ali. Teng family continues to run Jaya Grocer. www.thestar.com.my
  6. The Star Online. 3 March 2015. CIMB, Mitsubishi Corp launch Asean Industrial Growth Fund. www.thestar.com.my