Kenmark Industrial Zone calls for buyers again

Viet Hoa-Kenmark IZ awaits buyers at a much better price this time

A notable piece of information is that the property includes land use rights until 2057 for 440,707 square metres of land in Viet Hoa-Kenmark IZ, a favourable investment destination adjacent to Highway No.5, approximately 52 kilometres from Hanoi and 53 kilometres from Haiphong.

Additionally, all properties are attached to the land (buildings, factories, infrastructure) in the area of Viet Hoa-Kenmark IZ. All existing properties (including machinery, equipment, furniture, vehicles…) and those to be formed during the investment and implementation period will also form part of the estate.

Accordingly, interested investors will need to submit their application to participate in the auction within seven days of the announcement.

Earlier in March, BIDV called on buyers for the Kenmark property to recover capital, but received little interest from investors.

Viet Hoa-Kenmark IZ was licensed in 2005. At the time, the developer Kenmark Group from Taiwan promised to inject $500 million into turning the empty land into a mammoth IZ and an urban township.

During the first phase, Kenmark was set to disburse about $98 million and, in fact, spent $44 million building internal roads, workshops, as well as a wastewater treatment facility and an electricity generation system.

However, in 2010, the developer abruptly returned home, suspending the project without further notice.

The problem is that previously Kenmark borrowed $67.6 million from three banks ($39.1 million from BIDV, $18.5 million from SHB, and $10 million from Habubank). Subsequently, Habubank was merged with SHB, who inherited Habubank’s loans.

When Kenmark left, its suspended payments on its $67.6-million debt to Vietnamese banks, causing major headache with no solution on the horizon.

To open a path to dealing with the debt, Kenmark chairman Hwang Ding Kuo flew to Vietnam numerous times to work with relevant lenders and local management authorities.

They came to a consensus on selling the IZ to recoup the investment capital and pay off bank debts. However, all negotiations with potential buyers failed due to transfer price-related issues.

At the moment, as the IZ’s price is fixed by the lenders instead of the developer, the IZ promises to be more appealing to investors, paving the way for a happy ending to a fraught journey of adversity.

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