French retailer Casino has reportedly hired Deutsche Bank to advise on a potential bid for Carrefour's Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand assets. Reuters  reported unnamed sources that said Casino is "serious about" bidding for the Carrefour business.

There has been ongoing speculation that Carrefour has put its southeastern Asian assets up for sale at a potential price of US$1bn.However, Carrefour recently denied that it was planning to sell either its Singapore or Malaysia operations.