What is CP’s gameplan?

Thailand's richest man Dhanin Chearavanont continues to keep the deal mill turning. Earlier this week CP Lotus, which is partly owned by CP Group, inked a HK$2.3 billion $296 million agreement with Chinese supermarket operator Wumart. The latter bought 36 stores from CP Lotus through a share- swap deal.

CP Lotus' supermarket stores have been underperforming and the company posted a net loss of Rmb46.7 billion in the six months to June-end, so it was perhaps no surprise that the company decided to partner with a local player -- much like other foreign retailers such as Tesco.

But the CP Lotus share swap is merely the...