The Export and Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) has got the permission from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, to sell 25 per cent of its shares to four foreign investors, the state-run Youth newspaper reported on May 17.
SBV allowed Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the strategic partner of Eximbank, to own a maximum of 15 per cent of the Vietnamese bank’s charter capital and VOF Investment Ltd. Co from Virgin Islands, 5 per cent.
Mirae Asset Exim Investment Limited from South Korea (MAE) and Mirae Asset Maps Opportunity Vietnam Equity Balanced Fund 1 (OVEBF) will hold 4.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.
No details about total values of the deals have been made public to date.
Meanwhile, the newspaper estimated that Eximbank sold shares with face value of VND1,106 billion to four foreign investors for US$395 million.
Sumitomo Mitsui, Japan's third-largest bank by revenue, valued its stake in Eximbank at US$225 million in a 2007 statement when the two sides announced their alliance plan.
Eximbank is one of the four largest commercial joint stock banks now in Vietnam. It has 64 branches and offices nationwide, and relations with over 720 banks worldwide.
Last year, Eximbank's total asset reached VND33.7 trillion, up 84 per cent against the beginning of the year. It netted profits of VND463.4 billion, an on-year rise of 79.3 per cent, and had total deposits of VND22.9 trillion.
The lender targets VND1.5 trillion in pretax profit, between VND56 trillion and VND60 trillion of total assets, deposits and outstanding loans up 57 per cent this year. (VNA, Youth)
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