Masan Group eyes at least $600 mln offshore loans

Masan, one of Vietnam’s largest listed conglomerates by market capitalization, aims to acquire offshore loans of up to $600 million via a trade facility.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based group is in the process of reaching this facility agreement for syndicated loans from BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Singapore, Standard Chartered Singapore, HSBC Singapore, and other international lenders if any, a Masan board of directors decision seen on its website Monday showed.

According to the decision, The Sherpa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Masan Group, was allowed by the board to seek another trade facility deal with BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Singapore, Standard Chartered Singapore, HSBC Singapore, and other international lenders if any, for syndicated loans not exceeding $350 million.

Founded in 1996 in HCMC, Masan has developed into a major Vietnamese corporation whose current member companies and associates are industry leaders in branded fast-moving consumer goods, branded meat, modern retail, food and beverage retail, financial services, telecommunications, and value-added materials processing.

H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders, the group’s Germany-based minerals unit said Saturday that it had signed deals to invest £45 million ($53.34 million) in the UK-based fast-charging Li-ion battery solutions Nyobolt.

The investment, for a 15% equity interest on a fully diluted basis, is expected to accelerate the German tungsten firm’s vision of becoming a high-tech, value-added business by developing new tungsten applications critical for the technologies of the future.

In April, Vietnamese fintech firm Trusting Social disclosed a $65 million investment from The Sherpa.

The fintech startup also said a strategic collaboration between it and Masan Group planned to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered consumer tech platform that will offer customized retail and consumer financial products to serve 27 million families in Vietnam. The platform would provide convenient access to personalized fintech solutions for Masan’s consumers.