Nguyen Hoai Nam is not only CEO of Berjaya Vietnam, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corporation Berhad; he also has his own career in the import, distribution, and warranty of Jeep and Ram vehicles in Vietnam.
Nam, 54, has been leading Berjaya Vietnam since 2006. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors for several firms including Nam Huong JSC, Saigonbank- Berjaya Securities JSC, and NP Business Investments JSC.
He is part of the council of members at Berjaya-Hotay JV, which owns Sheraton Hanoi Hotel; Berjaya-Handico12 Limited Company, and Berjaya-D2d Company Limited.
Nam has just been nominated to the board of directors of Vincom Retail JSC, a subsidiary of Vietnamese private conglomerate Vingroup, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as VRE, for the 2023-2028 tenure. According to a release from Vietcap Securities JSC, he is one of the individuals who recently bought VRE shares.
On March 5, 2024, NP Business Investments JSC signed a contract with Ngoc Viet Commerce & Trading JSC, a member unit of Vingroup, regarding the transfer of 16% of the charter capital of Ngoc Viet at SDI Trading Development and Investment Company Limited (SDI). Notably, SDI now holds a 99% stake in Sado Trading Commercial JSC, which owns 40.5% of Vincom Retail's charter capital.
NP Business Investment has links to Nam. This company was established in December 2023 with a charter capital of VND505 billion ($20.14 million). Its shareholders include NP Investment Co., Ltd. (5%), Nguyen Hoai Nam (90%), and Phuong Anh Phat (5%). Phat, born in 1971, is currently the CEO and legal representative of the company.
The close cooperation between Phuong Anh Phat and Nguyen Hoai Nam does not stop there.
Phuong Anh Phat is the legal representative of JVA Ho Chi Minh City Co., Ltd., established in October 2020, headquartered at 1349 Huynh Tan Phat, Phu Thuan ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. As of May 2023, the company's charter capital had reached VND60 billion ($2.4 million) with shareholders being Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa – a relative of Nguyen Hoai Nam (56%) and Phuong Anh Phat (44%).
JVA Ho Chi Minh City is the importer, distributor, and warranty service provider of Jeep and Ram vehicles - a product line of U.S.-based FCA International Operations LLC in Vietnam. The company currently has Jeep showrooms in HCMC’s District 7 and District 4.
In addition, Nam and Phat are shareholders in JVA Trading Company Limited, established in May 2020 with a charter capital by August 2023 of VND30 billion. Phat holds 40% of the company’s charter capital while Nam has 60%. JVA is mentioned as a unit in the JVA Ho Chi Minh City group, engaging in importing, distributing and providing warranties for the Jeep and Ram brands in Vietnam.
Nam and Phat also work together at JVA Holdings Co., Ltd. and NP Investment Co., Ltd. with the same ownership ratio of 60:40.
Furthermore, Phat is the legal representative of Berjaya-D2D Co., Ltd., while Nam acts as a board member. Berjaya-D2D is the developer of the Topaz Twins project – a commercial center and high-rise apartment project in Thong Nhat ward, Bien Hoa town, Dong Nai province, which borders HCMC. As of the end of 2023, Berjaya-D2D was a subsidiary wholly owned by Berjaya.
The two men also worked together at SaigonBank-Berjaya Securities Joint Stock Company, with Nam as chairman and Phat as a member of the supervisory board. However, when SaigonBank Berjaya was transferred to another boss, both left their positions on the same day, November 17, 2023.
As for Nguyen Thu Huong - Nam's wife, she is currently the CEO and legal representative of Nam Huong Communication and Investment JSC. As of July 2017, she was the largest shareholder with 51% of the company’s charter capital, along with Nguyen Hoai Nam (39%) and Nguyen Ngoc Hung (10%).
Nam Huong is a strategy consulting and brand positioning unit for Jeep in the Vietnamese market.
Passion for sports
Nam is well-known as a businessman with a strong love for football. In 2018, he ran for the position of vice president in charge of finance at the Vietnam Football Federation for the 2018-2022 term. In his election campaign document, Nam said that working at the VFF was not only about finding sponsorship, it was also helping Vietnamese football realize the dream of being present at a World Cup.
However, in July 2019, he said he would not run for this position, even though he was nominated by Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Corp. and head of Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC.
Also in 2019, he and the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talent Football Academy (PVF) - then part of Vingroup - acquired 60% of FK Sarajevo Club - the strongest team in the Bosnia & Herzegovina national championship at that time.
However, in June 2021, Nam and domestic investors decided to end their investment in the club due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not only sports, the relationship between Nam and Vingroup also came from a business deal involving his sale of the Shop&Go convenience store chain for $1 to VinCommerce (now WinCommerce under Masan Group) in April 2019.
There have also been a number of other investment deals between Vingroup and Berjaya members.
Specifically, real estate developer Vinhomes - a subsidiary of Vingroup, in February 2018 acquired 97.9% of the shares of Berjaya Vietnam International University Town LLC for VND11.75 trillion ($46.85 million), holding the right to develop a $3.5 billion urban area project in HCMC’s Hoc Mon district. This was considered one of the largest real estate M&A deals in 2018.
In March 2018, Vinhomes contributed over VND2 trillion ($80 million) to Berjaya Vietnam Financial Center Company Limited (BVFC) - a legal entity with Nguyen Hoai Nam as chairman, becoming the parent company of this firm with a 67.5% stake.
Berjaya said that on June 4, 2018, it signed an agreement to transfer the remaining 32.5% of capital at BVFC to Vinhomes and Can Gio Tourism Urban JSC for VND884.93 billion ($35.28 million). Berjaya received a refundable deposit of $15 million. However, in its 2023 annual report, Berjaya still recorded BVFC as an affiliated company with 32.5% of charter capital.