Keppel Land secures 65% stake in company owning Hanoi retail property

Singapore's Keppel Land Limited is paying $50 mln for a 65% stake in a joint venture company that will hold a retail property in Hanoi.

The acquisition is made through Keppel Land's wholly-owned subsidiary VN Prime Vietnam Co., Ltd (VNPV), parent company Keppel Corporation said in a release on Thursday.

The retail property project is part of a mixed-use commercial development, which is under construction and slated for completion in 2025.

VNPV will acquire 65% interest in the joint venture, named ProjectCo, for an aggregate consideration of approximately VND1.23 trillion (about $52 million), subject to completion adjustments. The consideration will be payable in cash in two tranches.

Vietnamese firm Binh Minh Investment and Trading Development JSC will hold the remaining 35% interest in the ProjectCo.

In late May, Keppel Corporation said it had acquired a 49% stake in two adjacent residential projects in Ho Chi Minh City from Vietnamese property developer Khang Dien for VND3.18 trillion ($135.42 million).

According to Keppel’s announcement, the Vietnamese firm, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as KDH, holds the remaining 51% interest and will develop the projects in Thu Duc city on HCMC's outskirts with Keppel Corporation and Keppel Vietnam Fund, jointly known as the Keppel consortium.

This marked the second joint investment by the consortium following the acquisition of three residential sites in Hanoi in 2022.

Last year, Keppel Land, together with Keppel Vietnam Fund and a co-investor of KVF, entered an agreement with Phu Long Real Estate Joint Stock Company and its subsidiary to acquire a 49% stake in three residential land plots in the Mailand Hanoi City project in Hoai Duc district of Hanoi.

The firm recently embarked on a partnership with Panasonic, which will leverage Keppel Land’s deep experience in smart and sustainable urban space solutions, as well as Panasonic’s leading expertise in smart electronics to explore the development of a suite of solutions for sustainable urbanization, spanning smart mobility, smart community and environmental solutions. The solutions are intended to be applied across Keppel Land’s projects in Vietnam.

Keppel Land entered Vietnam in the early 1990s and is well known for high-quality residential projects such as Estella Heights, Celesta Rise and Empire City, and top-class commercial developments like Saigon Centre in HCMC.

In urban development, Keppel Land has grown to become one of the largest foreign real estate investors and contributors to urban development in Vietnam, with more than 20 projects and total registered investment capital of about $3.5 billion to date, according to Joseph Low, president of Keppel Land Vietnam.