Vietcombank to sell 6.5% stake to Mizuho, other shareholders soon: broker

Hanoi-headquartered Vietcombank, the largest bank in Vietnam by market cap, is proceeding with a long-delayed plan to sell a 6.5% stake to strategic shareholder Mizuho Bank and other stakeholders soon.

Related transactions are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to ACB Securities (ACBS).

Based on a similar deal in 2019, ACBS analysts estimate that the bank will sell the stake at VND96,000-100,000 ($3.94) a share, which is 9-13.6% higher than the VND88,000 at Friday’s close.

At VND88,200 ($3.47) a share, Vietcombank carried a value of VND492.96 trillion ($19.4 billion) at 10:20 a.m. Monday, the biggest bluechip in Vietnam’s stock market.

Selling the 6.5% stake will have a positive impact on Vietcombank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as well as its credit growth potential, ACBS analysts said. It would boost the bank's CAR of 11.4% (as of end-2023) by two percentage points, placing it well above the 8% requirement, they added.

However, with a higher owner’s equity, Vietcombank’s return on equity (ROE) is projected to decline from the current 20% to 15% in 2026, which is the industry’s average, the analysts said.

They noted that the bank was scheduled to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on August 19 to discuss the issuance and elect more members to the board of directors and supervisory board.

Vietcombank had planned to issue a 6.5% stake via a private placement back in 2019.The plan was to sell 307.6 million shares: 46.1 million to Japan’s Mizuho Bank and another 261.4 million shares to other investors.

At the bank’s 2024 AGM last April, board member Do Viet Hung said such a private offering would depend on market conditions.

In January 2019, Vietcombank sold 94.4 million shares, or a 2.55% stake, to Singaporean sovereign fund GIC Private Limited (GIC) and another 16.6 million shares to Mizuho, earning VND6.2 trillion ($244 million at the current exchange rate).

Vietcombank has charter capital of VND55.89 trillion ($2.2 billion), with the State Bank of Vietnam holding 74.8% and Mizuho 15% as of end-2023, according to the bank's consolidated 2023 financial statement.