GIC to become third largest shareholder in Vietcombank

August 30, 2016 | 09:13

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On August 29, Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to sell a 7.73 per cent stake, equalling 305.8 million shares to GIC Pte., Ltd. (GIC) from Singapore.

However, no specific price has been disclosed. Previously, Vietcombank announced that it will discount the stake volume offered to GIC to the market price. Vietcombank’s value at the transaction on the morning of August 29 stood at VND59,500 ($2.69) per share.

Earlier in April, Vietcombank received its shareholders’ approval to issue 360 million new shares to foreign investors. The issuance was worth $600 million at current market value, equalling 10 per cent of the bank’s existing stocks. However, the GIC deal would have to receive approval from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Vietcombank’s largest shareholder.

If the SBV agrees with the deal, GIC, with a 7.73 per cent stake holding, will be the third-largest investor after SBV’s 77 per cent and Japanese Mizuho Bank’s 15 per cent. In 2001, Vietcombank sold Mizuho its stake for $567.3 million.

Nghiem Xuan Thanh, CEO of Vietcombank, said that the deal will be an important milestone to strike a long-term relationship with GIC. In addition, it will help Vietcombank to reach targets of finance and business in both its domestic and overseas markets.