Vietnamese financial sector in crosshairs of foreign capital

According to newswire The Investor of South Korea, Mirae Asset Global Investments, the financial arm of Mirae Asset Financial Group, reported purchasing 100 per cent of the shares of Tin Phat Fund Management Company, then selling off 30 per cent of its shares at Tin Phat to State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) with the intention of forming a Vietnam-based joint venture.

Park Hyeon-Joo, founder of Mirae Asset, pointed out that the new joint venture would be Mirae's financial arm in the Southeast Asia region. Apart from the previous inflows of capital injected into Vietnam-based enterprises and other enterprises in the region, Mirae expected to introduce new funds and diversify its portfolio in Vietnam, initiating investment in various sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, and private investment.

Previously, Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Korea Invesment Partners (KIP) poured $10 million into a Vietnam-based startup specialising in building and developing technological platforms for smartphones.

Mirae Asset Global Investments is present in Vietnam with the purpose of investing in and purchasing stakes from Vietnam-based enterprises.

Recently, Lotte Group (Korea), through its subsidiary Lotte Card Co., Ltd., completed the transfer of 100 per cent of Techcombank's contributed capital at Techcom Finance, becoming the first licensed South Korean credit card provider in Vietnam. The deal value was claimed to mount up to dozens of billion South Korean wons (KRW1 billion = $940,000).

In 2016, M-Service, the electronic wallet service of Vietnam-based mobile payment firm MoMo, landed $28 million capital from Standard Chartered Private Equity and Goldman Sachs.

Additionally, Champion Crest Investment Fund of Credit China Fintech Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-headquarted fintech service provider, injected roughly $12.73 million to gain ownership of a majority stake in Amigo, a Vietnam-based provider of IT services and solutions for personalised financial services.

In July 2017, Samsung Securities announced its partnership with Caldera Pacific, an investment fund focusing on investing in private firms based in Hong Kong, securing a 40 per cent stake at Dragon Capital.