SK Group invests $1 billion in Vingroup, becoming strategic partner

SK Group is Vingroup's new strategic partner. Photo: Vingroup

Accordingly, SK Group will spend about VND23.3 trillion ($1 billion) to acquire 154.3 million shares of Vingroup (VIC) as well as 51.4 million shares of VinCommerce.

The average price for this deal is VND113,000 ($4.9) per share, 13 per cent higher than the expected price of at least VND100,000 ($4.3) which VIC announced in the previous offering plan.

According to the private offering plan announced in this March, Vingroup expected to offload 250 million shares or 7.8 per cent of the shares in circulation to a maximum of five foreign investors.

This billion-dollar deal is the largest transaction conducted by Vingroup so far in 2019. After the transaction, VIC's charter capital is expected to increase to VND33,459 billion ($1.45 billion), 4.46 per cent of which will be owned by SK Group, in addition to a part in VinCommerce, which manages and operates the supermarket system consisting of VinMart, VinMart +, Vinpro, and the Adayroi.com e-commerce platform.

Woncheol Park, representative of SK Southeast Asia Investment Pte., Ltd., told ForbesVietnam.com that through the co-operation with Vingroup, SK Group seeks new business opportunities to develop in Southeast Asia.

“SK Group highly appreciates Vingroup and its role in the Vietnamese economy. Through this strategic co-operation agreement, we hope to work closely with Vingroup to bring great resonance values ​​for both corporations as well as for Vietnam,” the representatives of the leading Korean chaebol said.

According to Nguyen Viet Quang, vice president and general director of Vingroup, with a wealth of experience and a leading role in many business areas as well as solid management platform and technological achievements, SK will help Vingroup to conquer new heights, especially in industry and technology.

SK Group, also known as SK Holdings, is one of the largest chaebols (conglomerates) in South Korea, works in telecommunications, technology, electronics, energy, logistics, and service provision. SK South East Asia Investment was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Singapore with the capital mobilised from five subsidiaries of SK.

Meanwhile, Vingroup is currently one of the largest private economic groups in Vietnam and is one of the 10 largest enterprises in the country. In 2018, Vingroup announced its ambition to become a global technology, industry, and service provider.

Right after the information about the billion-dollar transaction was announced, Vingroup's stocks, including VIC, VRE, and VHM, went on the rise, keeping the VN-Index green despite the general decline in stock prices. At the end of the May 16 session, except for VRE (Vincom Retail) with a reference price of VND36,600 ($1.59) per share, VIC and VHM (Vinhomes) all reported gains, ending at VND116,900 ($5.08) and VND87,000 ($3.78).