Intel finalizes 15 billion mobileye acquisition

The agreement surpasses the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from KEB Hana Bank (South Korea) in 2019, setting a new record in the banking industry. VPBank announced that it has completed the sale of a 15% equity interest to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. of Japan, a member of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion. CEO of SMBC Masahiro Yoshimura and Chairman of the Board of Directors at VPBank Nguyen Chi Dung at the signing ceremony today. Photo: VPBank SMBC Group's latest deal with VPBank makes the former a new strategic investor in the latter. The agreement sets a new banking industry record, with a deal value of VND35.9 trillion ($1.5 billion), surpassing the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from South Korea's KEB Hana Bank in 2019. The investment is expected to increase VPBank's total capital from VND103.5 trillion ($4.4 billion) to around VND140 trillion … [Read more...] about Japan’s SMBC acquires 15% stake in VPBank for US$1.5 billion

At last week’s tourism recovery conference in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that Vietnam will waive visas for more countries and extend the duration of stay for international tourists to accelerate the recovery of tourism. Better conditions will also be created for airlines to open direct routes to Vietnam. More flexible visa policy finally on cards after multiple gripes, Photo source: freepik.com The prime minister stressed that after Vietnam reopened its tourism market, it failed to attract foreign visitors as expected in 2022. There has been a lack of attractive tourism products and quality remains limited, he said. According to Pham Hai Quynh, director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute, easing visa requirements is a starting point for attracting more tourists to the country. It also encourages travellers to stay longer and explore more. “With improvements in visa openness, Vietnam is likely to woo more tourists and investors to Vietnam. … [Read more...] about More flexible visa policy finally on cards after multiple gripes

VPBank last week was rumoured to be close to an agreement to sell 15 per cent of stakes to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, one of Japan’s largest financial companies. The estimated agreement is valued at around $1.4 billion, cited Bloomberg. “The Vietnamese bank will sell more than one billion shares to SMBC Consumer Finance, a unit of the Japanese megabank, for $1.35-1.39 each,” the newswire noted. Banks continue with consolidation game, illustration photo/ Source: Shutterstock VNDirect Securities told VIR that due to a high capital adequacy ratio of 20.5 per cent in 2022, VPBank could receive a higher credit limit from the State Bank of Vietnam this year. In addition, the brokerage predicted that the bank would invest significantly to diversify its products and expand its footprint in other segments, such as VPBank Securities in the securities market or OPES – its new non-life insurance arm. With the 15 per cent stake sale to SMBC, VPBank would consolidate and … [Read more...] about Banks continue with consolidation game

Clients waiting outside a branch of the Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California on March 13. (Photo: XINHUA/VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse by itself will end up being neutral for Vietnam’s stock market and economy, Michael Kokalari, chief economist at investment fund VinaCapital , has said in a report. “Furthermore, we see no substantial risk that the dynamics which negatively impacted SVB and certain other regional US banks could significantly impact the profitability and/or solvency of banks in Vietnam.” It was widely reported that latent losses on SVB’s securities portfolio coupled with a drop in deposits at the bank were the main factors that led to its rapid insolvency, it said. Vietnamese banks also held Government bonds on their balance sheets, and the prices of 10-year Vietnam Government bonds (VGBs) had dropped by around 15% since mid-2021 and yields surged. However, VGB holdings only accounted for around 6% of listed … [Read more...] about Silicon Valley Bank collapse not to impact VN: VinaCapital

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse by itself will end up being neutral for Vietnam’s stock market and economy, Michael Kokalari, chief economist at investment fund VinaCapital, has said in a report. Clients waiting outside a branch of the Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. — AFP/VNA Photo “Furthermore, we see no substantial risk that the dynamics which negatively impacted SVB and certain other regional US banks could significantly impact the profitability and/or solvency of banks in Vietnam.” It was widely reported that latent losses on SVB’s securities portfolio coupled with a drop in deposits at the bank were the main factors that led to its rapid insolvency, it said. Vietnamese banks also held Government bonds on their balance sheets, and the prices of 10-year Vietnam Government bonds (VGBs) had dropped by around 15 per cent since mid-2021 and yields surged. However, VGB holdings only accounted for around 6 per cent of listed banks’ … [Read more...] about Silicon Valley Bank collapse not to impact Vietnam: VinaCapital

A mission, including 52 businesses from the U.S., is scheduled to visit Vietnam this week to learn about the local market and seek business and investment opportunities. This is the largest-ever U.S. business mission to Vietnam. Ted Osius, president and CEO of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday that these U.S. firms will meet with the Vietnamese prime minister, National Assembly chairman, and ministers. Amazon is among the U.S. enterprises coming to Vietnam this week. Photo: Reuters Learning about Vietnam’s digital, green transformation potential According to Osius, USABC members stressed at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during his visit to the U.S. on the occasion of the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit in May 2022 that they considered Vietnam a strategic market in the region and were committed to making investments in Vietnam and cooperating with Vietnamese partners for a long term. … [Read more...] about Biggest-ever US business delegation comes to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities

Bamboo Airways is negotiating a deal with a new investor, showing its latest move one year after former chairman Trinh Van Quyet was arrested in March 2022 on charges of stock market manipulation, a representative of the airline told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday. The air carrier and the new investor are in the process of completing a part of investment procedures. Who the investor is remains unclear. The airline has found a new investor to replace former chairman Trinh Van Quyet and some relevant shareholders, said Bamboo Airways CEO Nguyen Manh Quan. The air carrier also actively helped the investor with relevant procedures of stake acquisition. The transferred stake was mortgaged at banks from 2020 by old shareholders. Apart from the stake purchase, the new investor agreed to take responsibility for all payments for the previous loans taken out by the old shareholders who used their stakes in Bamboo Airways as collateral at banks. Over the past few months, … [Read more...] about Bamboo Airways has new investor

Walt Disney Co on Monday began 7,000 layoffs announced earlier this year, as it seeks to control costs and create a more "streamlined" business, according to a letter Chief Executive Bob Iger sent to employees and seen by Reuters. Several major divisions of the company - Disney Entertainment, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and corporate - will be impacted, according to a person familiar with the matter. ESPN is not touched by this week's round of cuts, but is anticipated to be included in later rounds. The entertainment industry has undergone a retrenchment since its early euphoric embrace of video streaming, when established media companies lost billions as they launched competitors to Netflix Inc. Media companies started to rein in spending when Netflix posted its first loss of subscribers in a decade in early 2022, and Wall Street began prioritizing profitability over subscriber growth. Iger said Disney would begin notifying the first group of employees who are … [Read more...] about Walt Disney Co begins 7,000 layoffs

A customer uses Home Credit’s app. Investment in digitalisation is currently the key for large financial companies to compete and expand their market shares. — Photo thoibaonganhang.vn Large foreign financial groups have actively penetrated the Vietnamese consumer finance market, which has significantly helped accelerate the digitalisation of the country’s financial services. United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has recently completed the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business in Viet Nam, which includes Citibank’s unsecured and secured lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses. Not only UOB, multinational financial groups from countries in the Asian region are also strongly promoting mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital contributions in Vietnamese commercial banks to promote their consumer lending activities. There has been recent information that Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC) has reached a number of agreements to buy more than 1 … [Read more...] about Foreign investors expand consumer finance business in Viet Nam

A customer uses Home Credit’s app. Investment in digitalisation is currently the key for large financial companies to compete and expand their market shares. (Photo thoibaonganhang.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Large foreign financial groups have actively penetrated the Vietnamese consumer finance market, which has significantly helped accelerate the digitalisation of the country’s financial services. United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has recently completed the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business in Vietnam, which includes Citibank’s unsecured and secured lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses. Not only UOB, multinational financial groups from countries in the Asian region are also strongly promoting mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital contributions in Vietnamese commercial banks to promote their consumer lending activities. There has been recent information that Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC) has reached a number of … [Read more...] about Foreign investors expand consumer finance business in Vietnam