Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong acquires nearly 5% stake in LPBank after block trades

Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong has become a major shareholder in Fortune Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank, or LPBank (HoSE: LPB), acquiring a 4.89% stake following a series of large block transactions, according to a shareholder disclosure released on Tuesday.

LPBank said Vuong held 146.2 million shares as of June 23, equivalent to 4.89% of the bank's charter capital, marking his first appearance on the lender's list of shareholders owning at least 1% of its equity.

The disclosure comes after several unusually large negotiated transactions in LPBank shares over recent trading sessions.

Vuong, chairman of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, replaced Nguyen Duc Thuy on LPBank's list of shareholders owning at least 1%.

Thuy previously held 82.6 million LPBank shares, representing a 2.76% stake, but was no longer listed among shareholders owning at least 1% of the bank's chartered capital by the end of 2025.

The only other shareholder with at least a 1% stake is Vietnam Post Corporation, which continues to hold 195.3 million shares, equivalent to more than 6.5% of LPBank's charter capital. Related parties of the organization hold an additional 100,544 shares, representing a 0.0034% stake.

On the stock market, LPBank shares have seen a series of large block trades alongside the ownership changes. On Tuesday, June 23 alone, negotiated transactions totaling 153.8 million shares were recorded during the morning session, with a combined value of nearly VND7.08 trillion ($268.76 million), implying a price of roughly VND46,000 ($1.75) per share.

Earlier, block trades of 35.49 million shares worth approximately VND1.57 trillion ($59.6 million) were recorded on June 19, while 6.9 million shares worth VND310 billion changed hands on June 18.

Notably, the number of LPBank shares owned by Vuong as he announced is equivalent to about 95% of the volume traded through negotiated transactions on Tuesday, June 23, suggesting a close correspondence between his reported holding and the large transaction carried out that day.

LPBank shares have rallied in recent sessions, rising from around VND45,500 to VND52,600 ($2) per share over the past seven trading days. During the morning session on June 23, the stock hit its daily upper limit and still had more than 1.8 million shares queued at the ceiling price.

Based on the market price of VND52,600 (($2) per share, Vuong's stake in LPBank is valued at approximately VND7.69 trillion ($292.12 million).

LPBank, formerly known as LienVietPostBank, underwent significant changes between 2021 and 2024, including adopting the LPBank brand, launching a new corporate identity and changing its official name to Fortune Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank.

The transformation followed the appointment of Nguyen Duc Thuy to the bank's board of directors in April 2021. He later became chairman in December 2022.

However, Thuy stepped down as chairman at the end of 2025 to take up a position at Sacombank. He was succeeded by Ho Nam Tien, who had previously served as LPBank's permanent vice chairman.