Foreign giants spend billions to acquire Vietnam’s conglomerates

Other subsidiaries of Jardine Matheson, including Hong Kong Land, Jardine Pacific Holdings and Dairy, are developing a series of projects such as KFC, Pizza Hut restaurant chains, Guardian (cosmetics retail chain) and Schindler (lift), and real estate projects in Hanoi and HCMC.

TCC Group targets Vinamilk and Sabeco

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thai billionaire and the owner of TCC Group, shows his interest in Sabeco, the largest brewer, and Vinamilk, the dairy producer.

TCC Group, through its subsidiaries, owns huge assets in Vietnam, including a 18.7% Vinamilk stake, worth US$2.3 billion; MM Mega Market Vietnam (retailer) which it bought at US$710 million; a 65% stake in Phu Thai Group and a 65% Melia Hanoi stake.

Central Group targets retail chains

It has acquired a number of retail chains in Vietnam, including Big C, Nguyen Kim and Zalora. It paid more than US$1 billion to take over Big C.

Central Group is also developing Robins shopping centers located at large complexes such as Royal City in Hanoi and Crescent Mall in HCMC.

SCG Group: the big player in plastics & building materials 

In Vietnam, SCG has 23 operating companies with 8,300 workers. In the first half of 2017, its revenue reached US$530 million, an increase of 17% compared with the same period last year.

SCG purchased Prime Group, a tile manufacturer, at US$240 million, and StarCemt at US$156 million.

The biggest investment deal in Vietnam is the Long Son refinery complex, capitalized at US$5.4 billion.

CJ Group: from cinemas to food and logistics

The conglomerate from the Republic of Korea has invested in a wide range of business fields.

CJ bought Megastar, a cinema network and renamed to CJ CGV Vietnam. It also acquired Gemadept Tower, Cau Tre Food and Minh Dat Food.

Not only M&A deals, CJ has also made direct investment in many projects, including Tours le Jours, a bakery chain, K-Mart retail chain, Korea Express (logistics) and CJ Vina Agri (animal feed).