HANOI: Vietnam Prosperity JSC Bank is in the final stages of a deal to sell a 15% stake to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) Inc for about US$1.4bil (RM6.3bil), according to people familiar with the transaction.
The lender known as VPBank will sell more than one billion shares to SMBC Consumer Finance Co, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui, for 32,000 dong (US$1.35 or RM6.10) to 33,000 dong (RM6.30) each, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
The deal is expected to be signed later this month.
VPBank is one of the largest private banks in Vietnam, with total assets of more than 631 trillion dong (RM120bil) at the end of December. The business ranges across retail, corporate, consumer finance and wealth management operations.
Japan’s top banks are investing billions of dollars in Asia to provide services to the region’s rapidly expanding middle class.
In November, Sumitomo Mitsui agreed to buy an additional stake in Philippines-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp for about US$460mil (RM2.08bil).
Shares of Hanoi-based VPBank have risen just over 2% this year, valuing the lender at around US$5.2bil (RM23.5bil) and making it the fourth-largest in the country by market value.
The bank has worked on the plan to sell the 15% stake to a strategic investor since 2021 and targeted completion of the sale last year. Luu Thi Thao, standing deputy chief executive officer of VPBank, has said the proceeds would help the lender replenish capital, news website VietnamFinance reported last month.
In a Bloomberg interview in January, Sumitomo Mitsui’s chief executive officer Jun Ohta said the company was discussing a capital tie-up with VPBank, building on an alliance with the firm. — Bloomberg
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