Tesco Lotus, the Thai unit of UK supermarket retailer Tesco, has said that its business relationship with its local partner Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) “remains strong”, despite local media reports that CP is to pull out of the venture.


CEO of Tesco Lotus Michael Raycraft said that his company’s relationship with CP was the same as when the joint venture was set up in 1998, reported Dow Jones International News.


Thai newspaper the Nation had reported that CP had decided to divest its remaining holdings in major local retailers Tesco Lotus and Siam Makro in order to focus on its convenience store business.