Three Masan deals among Vietnam’s top 10 M&As

Three transactions among the top 10 merger and acquisition deals, ranked by Vietnam M&A Business Forum 2022, belong to multi-sector corporation Masan Group.

Of the three Masan transactions, two were investments by the Netherlands’ De Heus and South Korea’s SK Group into the Vietnamese group. The third was Masan's acquisition of an 85% stake in the coffee and tea chain Phuc Long.

De Heus’s investment was estimated at $600-700 million, according to the Wednesday forum’s data. Meanwhile, Korean investment giant SK Group bought Masan's 16.26% stake in retailer VinCommerce for $410 million.

Masan has completed its acquisition of a 85% stake in Phuc Long for $280 million. Therefore, Phuc Long’s valuation is estimated at about $450 million.

The three deals ranked fifth, sixth, and 10th in the 2021-2022 listing.

On top of the top-10 list is Singaporean bank UOB’s acquisition of Citigroup’s retail banking business in Vietnam, with the deal value undisclosed. It is part of UOB’s $3.7 billion entire acquisition of Citigroup’s retail banking business in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The second was Kuehne + Nagel's $1.5 billion acquisition of Apex International last year. Apex International has an indirect subsidiary in Vietnam named Apex Logistics Co.

Next was Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s $1.4 billion acquisition of a 49% stake in consumer finance company FE Credit of Vietnamese lender VPBank last year.

The fourth is a deal by Hong Kong-based Swire Beverage Holdings, which is spending $1.015 billion buying Coca-Cola bottling plants in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Vietnam’s Thaco group has completed its acquisition of Emart Vietnam Ltd. from Korean leading retailer Emart. The deal ranked seventh but the acquisition price was not unveiled.

The eighth deal was the one in which Thai conglomerate SCG bought a 70% stake in Vietnam’s Duy Tan Plastics Co. for $300 million.

Singapore-based EDPR Sunseap spent $284 million buying two solar power projects of Vietnamese corporation Xuan Thien; the deal ranked ninth.