Masan Group receives best M&A deals of 2019-2020 award

Danny Le, general director of Masan Group received the best M&A deals of 2019-2020 from Tran Quoc Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment and Le Trong Minh, editor-in-chief of Vietnam Investment Review

The 12th M&A Forum this year is themed "Upsurging in the new normal" and was held at GEM Palace on Tuesday (November 24). The forum is organised by VIR and AVM Vietnam under the patronage of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam M&A Forum 2020 has welcomed 16 speakers and 500 representatives from the business community as well as domestic and international investment funds to attend discussions at this year's forum.

The forum also honoured the best M&A deals and advisors of 2019-2020. Among them, Masan Group ranked first among Vietnam's Best M&A deals for 2019-2020.

The Best Investment and M&A Deals of the Year 2019-2020

The list of best M&A deals help companies and investors to evaluate and review the scale and quality of M&A activities in Vietnam in the past year. The M&A value is estimated to reach $3.5 billion in 2020, of which the M&A value of domestic companies increased from 12 per cent in 2018 to 33 per cent in 2019-2020.

In 2019-2020, Masan has overcome difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct several M&A deals with both local and foreign companies.

Danny Le, general director of Masan Group said that Masan does not acquire companies for profit but for their platforms to serve the group’s overall development strategy. The platform can be technology to create good products with reasonable price for consumers. It can also be the distribution network to help Masan to expand coverage and build a strong brand in the local market.

In December, Masan Group Corporation and Vingroup have signed an MoU on the share swap of VinCommerce and VinEco. According to the MoU, VinCommerce JSC of Vingroup (retail), VinEco (agriculture), and Masan Consumer Holdings (consumer goods) will officially merge to create the leading group of retail and consumer goods in Vietnam.

In the first nine months of 2020, VinCommerce contributed VND23.67trillion ($1 billion), accounting for 42.5 per cent of Masan’s total revenue of VND55.6 trillion ($2.4 billion). VinCommerce's profit improvement plan has proven effective with the EBITDA margin up from 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 2.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2020, and on track to achieve a break-even EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In February, Masan HPC Co., Ltd. (HPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Masan Consumer Corporation (MCH), has successfully acquired a 52 per cent stake of Net Detergent JSC (NETCO). The move marks Masan’s entrance into the $3.1 billion local personal and home care market. The acquisition also aligns with Masan’s 5-year strategy to broaden its product portfolio, which serves 100 million Vietnamese consumers. After the acquisition, NETCO posted strong growth. In the first nine months of 2020, it generated revenue of VND1.1 trillion ($47.83 million) and after-tax profit of VND104 billion ($4.5 million), up 38 and 93 per cent compared with the first nine months of 2019.

In June, Masan High-Tech Materials (MHT) announced the completion of its purchase of the tungsten business of H.C. Starck Group GmbH (HCS). This transaction is a strategic step in executing MSR’s vision to become a world-leading vertically integrated high-tech industrial materials platform.

In October, MHT has signed a definitive agreement to establish a strategic alliance with Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC), with the purpose of developing a high-tech tungsten materials platform. As part of the agreement, MHT will receive an investment of $90 million from the Japanese investor, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the company’s share capital.

Most recently, at the ground-breaking ceremony of MEATDeli Saigon Meat Processing Complex on October 3, Masan MEATLife announced it would enter the poultry meat market by buying a 51 per cent stake in 3F VIET JSC, a leading player in the industry, for VND613 billion ($26.65 million).

Speaking at the second panel of the Vietnam M&A Forum 2020, Danny Le shared the company’s M&A strategy to optimise growth and create a breakthrough.

“25 years ago, Masan focused on seasoning segment. After that, we saw the potential in consumer goods so we decided to branch into the instant noodle and beverage segments. Masan has gained know-how to develop these products and secure fast-paced growth,” he said.

In addition, Masan also develops a product line horizontally with a variety of products. Most recently, Masan has acquired the NET brand after studying the market signals. Masan aims to serve customers and end users.

“We implement our new strategy via M&A transactions to capitalise on consumer demand and accelerate digital transformation,” he added.