Food and hypermarkets giant Tesco is among the 10 bidders for French counterpart Carrefour’s south-east Asian assets.

The auction pitches Tesco against rivals including Dairy Farm, Aeon and Casino. Walmart did not make a first round offer and is thought unlikely to intervene further down the line.

The extent of interest means Carrefour is likely to achieve its target price of between $800m and $1bn for the 61 stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Tesco is already is the market leader in Malaysia and Thailand and it is thought likely to have made an offer for all the Carrefour assets on offer.

Carrefour chief executive Lars Olofsson said earlier this year that he was open to offers for Carrefour operations in countries where it does not hold the number one or two position. It will retain a presence in Asia, including China.

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