A group of investors including U.S. investment fund KKR & Co. Inc. and Singapore government-backed Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. has collectively invested 15.1 trillion dong ($650 million) in a real estate arm of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, Vingroup to acquire a 6 percent stake in Vingroup’s Vinhomes.
Vingroup said in a statement on Tuesday that through the transaction it sold a 6 percent stake in Vinhomes Joint Stock Co., a leading developer of residential, industrial and commercial properties in the country.
The latest investment illustrates the “strong development prospects and growth” of Vinhomes, a subsidiary of the Southeast Asian country’s biggest private firm. Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. was a financial advisor in the deal, the statement said.
Vinhomes is the real estate arm of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup.U.S.-based Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Singapore-based Temasek struck the deals Monday by purchasing 201 million shares of the real estate giant on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at VND75,000 ($3.25) apiece, according to a release from Vingroup.The deal sent trading volume on the exchange soaring to VND 22.7 trillion ($979 million), the second highest mark in 20 years.
KKR said in a statement that it sees Vinhomes as a leading real estate platform with unparalleled execution capabilities, access to a sizeable land bank and significant growth opportunities in residential, commercial and industrial real estate.
The American firm has been active in Vietnam for about a decade now. It has invested $359 million in consumer goods maker Masan Consumer and another $250 million in meat producer Masan MeatLife.Singapore state investor Temasek is a stakeholder in Vietnam gaming firm VNG.
Another Singapore state investor, GIC, holds 6 percent of Vinhomes.Vinhomes’s VHM shares prices rose 7 percent to VND74,900 ($3.25) Tuesday.It was the most profitable listed company in Vietnam in the first quarter with VND10.1 trillion ($431 million) in pretax profit, up 200 percent year-on-year.
Source: NNA/VNexpress
