Lotte buys controlling stake in Ho Chi Minh City’s Diamond Plaza: media

The 20-story building is now operated by a joint venture between Vietnam’s Construction Corporation No.1 (CC1) and Lotte, instead of the Posco Engineering & Construction Co. (POSEC), The Saigon Times Online quoted Lotte’s chairman Shin Dong Bin as saying on Wednesday.

Shin revealed the move during a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City’s chairman Le Hoang Quan, where they discussed several investment plans, including the construction of a US$2 billion Eco Smart City, the South Korean company is eying in the southern Vietnamese metropolis.

In August 2000 CC1 and POSEC, a subsidiary of South Korean steel making giant POSCO, inaugurated the $60 million Diamond Plaza in one of the prime locations in District 1.

The complex of office buildings, apartments, and trade centers is situated at the Le Duan – Pham Ngoc Thach intersection, facing the back of the iconic Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica.

The prime location enables Diamond Plaza to attract famous brands to its trade center, as well as big companies to hire its offices.

The Lotte chairman said his conglomerate had acquired 70 percent of the building, but refused to elaborate on how much it had paid Posco.

The Saigon Times Online said the partnership transfer has been confirmed by reliable sources.

The newswire, however, cited an authorized source from the city’s Department of Planning and Investment as saying that the department had yet to receive any official file on the issue.

Lotte’s acquisition of the controlling stake in Diamond Plaza is seen as another step in its plan to penetrate further into the Vietnamese real estate market, particularly the commercial property sector, through mergers and acquisitions.

In April last year, the five-star Legend Saigon hotel that faces the Saigon River in District 1 was renamed Lotte Legend Saigon, much to the public’s surprise.

Lotte reportedly acquired a 70 percent stake in the 283-room hotel from Japan’s Kotobuki in 2013 and became its largest shareholder,The Saigon Times Online said, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

The South Korean conglomerate is also likely to acquire local supermarket chains. Pico Plaza in Tan Binh District has recently been turned into Lotte Mart even though the company did not release any official information on the change.

Lotte had previously turned a Pico Plaza in Hanoi into one of its supermarkets, according to The Saigon Times Online.