Sumitomo subsidiary acquires 49% stake in Vietnam’s top crop protection firm

Summit Agro International Ltd., a member of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, has acquired a 49% stake in Hop Tri Investment Corporation, a leading crop protection firm in Vietnam.

In a Thursday statement, Summit Agro International said the Vietnamese firm would change its name to Hop Tri Summit JSC. The firm did not provide further details about the deal.

The Japanese firm noted that Vietnam is the second biggest agricultural supplies market in Southeast Asia with a market size of JPY150 billion ($971 million) in 2023.

In crop protection, the Vietnamese market value ranked first in the region, it added.

The Vietnamese agricultural supplies market is expected to continue developing strongly (averaging 8.9% a year in 2012-2022) along with a growing economy, government support, and favorable demographic factors.

Sumitomo said it planned to combine the strengths of Hop Tri Summit and Summit Agro International to expand its products range and services in Vietnam, contributing to the growth of Vietnamese agriculture.

The acquisition, part of Summit Agro International’s ongoing JPY3.45-billion ($22.3 million) investment in Asia, has to complete legal procedures, the firm announced.

In Vietnam, Sumitomo is involved in various projects in different sectors including: industrial real estate (Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi, Thang Long II Industrial Park in Hung Yen province, Thang Long Vinh Phuc Industrial Park in the eponymous province); urban railway (Ho Chi Minh City’s urban railway No.1 project (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien); electricity (Pha Lai, Duyen Hai 3, Phu My 2-2 and Van Phong 1 thermal power plants); auto parts in Hai Duong province; supermarket (cooperation with Vietnamese firm BRG); real estate (smart city project in Hanoi); and banking (stake in VPBank).