Bao Tin gold trading clan looks for Midas touch in other ventures

More than 30 years since Luong Thi Dien and Vu Van Kham founded a gold trading business, Bao Tin has become a household name in Vietnam’s gold and jewellery market.

The brand recognition has provided a strong foundation for the couple’s children and grandchildren to branch out with distinct jewelry brands and look for business opportunities in other fields including auto showrooms, real estate, investment via mergers and acquisitions and funeral homes.

While the jewelry brands established by the children are distinct, they carry the Bao Tin prefix, as in – Bao Tin Minh Chau, Bao Tin Hoang Quan, Bao Tin Manh Hai, Bao Tin Thanh Van and Bao Tin Hoang Long.

Song Tung Auto JSC

Bao Tin Manh Hai JSC entered the car trading business in 2007 with the establishment of the Son Tung Auto showroom by grandson Vu Son Tung (son of Vu Manh Hai). The showroom’s current owner is Son Tung Auto., JSC, which was founded in late September 2016.

Initially, Son Tung Auto had a charter capital of VND20 billion ($786,320) and its shareholders were Nguyen Quang Trong (17.5%), Phan Hoang Son (17.5%), Vu Son Tung (30%), Sam Thi Hue (17.5%), and Nguyen Tien Hai (17.5%).

After several changes, the current shareholders – since April 2020 – are Sam Thi Hue (66.01%) and Nguyen Quang Trong (33.99%). Subsequently, Son Tung Auto changed its name to Vietnam Auto Hue Minh Company Limited.

Bao Tin Manh Hai JSC has also ventured into real estate, collaborating with Ha Dinh Service Cooperative to implement a 4,925 square-meter project at the intersection of Nguyen Trai and Khuat Duy Tien streets in Hanoi.

Another significant deal involved Bao Tin Manh Hai’s divestment of all capital in October 2020 from its member Bao Tin Son Tung Co., Ltd., the buyer being Sunshine Group, a leading private conglomerate in Vietnam. The new name of the project had was Sunshine Boulevard.

As of March last year, Bao Tin Son Tung had three shareholders – Sunshine Marina Nha Trang (55%) and Trinh Gia Construction Design Limited Company (35%), both subsidiaries of the Sunshine group, and Dinh Huu Canh (10%).

Wide reach

Since November 2018, Bao Tin Manh Hai has had three shareholders - Nguyen Thi Thanh Van (60%), the wife of Vu Manh Hai and their two sons – Vu Hung Son (20%) and Vu Son Tung (20%). Son is chairman and legal representative of the firm.

Today, the Bao Tin Manh Hai group also comprises several legal entities operating in the gold sector, like Bao Tin Kinh Bac Jewelry JSC and Bao Tin Hai Duong Jewelry JSC, both set up in mid-2023.

The group has also expanded into mergers and acquisitions, aiming to invest in, buy, sell and restructure businesses in the gold industry and other promising sectors.

Bao Tin Investment Management and Consulting Company Limited, founded in July 2016, has three shareholders (as of December 2022) – Do Manh Cuong (45%), chairman Vu Son Tung (45%), and Dinh Ngoc Duong (10%).

With Viet Land Spirit JSC, established in 2007, the group established a 2.2-hectare funeral home in Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi. Vu Son Tung serves as its general director and legal representative.

Bao Tin Manh Hai JSC’s 2022 net revenues surged to VND934 billion ($36.72 million) from VND 79.1 billion ($3.11 million) in 2020 and VND64.9 billion ($2.55 million) in 2021. It earned net profits of VND1.8 billion ($70,770), compared with losses of VND2.7 billion ($106,150) in 2021 and VND1.9 billion in 2020.

As of December 31, 2022, Bao Tin Manh Hai had total assets of VND162.3 billion ($6.38 million), a 67% increase over 2020. It had equity of VND98 billion ($3.85 million), up 1.9%, while liabilities amounted to VND64.3 billion ($2.53 million), up 64-fold.

Keeping the legacy going

Another Bao Tin offshoot, which does not have the same diversification record, but has emerged as big brand name as Bao Tin Manh Hai is Bao Tin Minh Chau, which had an early start in in 1989.

It was established by Vu Minh Chau, the oldest brother of Vu Manh Hai. In May 1995, he converted his venture from a private firm to Bao Tin Minh Chau Company Limited.

Bao Tin Minh Chau is currently led by Chau, 71, who serves as its general director and legal representative.

As of May 2018, the group, which mainly engages in gold trading and gold jewellery, had a charter capital of VND100 billion ($3.93 million) with two shareholders, Vu Minh Chau (90.17%) and Vu Phuong Nam, Chau’s eldest son.

In 2022, its revenue was VND1.06 trillion ($42.03 million), up 33% from 2021 and its net profit doubled to VND4.1 billion ($161,200).

As of end-2022, the firm had total assets of VND152.9 billion ($6.01 million), a 3.2% decline from the beginning of the year. Its equity was VND104 billion ($4.09 million), while liabilities amounted to VND48.9 billion ($1.92 million), down 12.6%.

Bao Tin firms are yet to be public/listed companies, so the above-mentioned statistics are the latest to be found.