SCB X, Thailand’s greatest financial institution by market worth, agreed to purchase shopper lender Home Credit’s enterprise in Vietnam for about US$860 million in a bid to widen its regional footprint.
The buy by SCB X’s Siam Commercial Bank unit needs to be accomplished by the primary half of subsequent yr, topic to regulatory approvals, the Bangkok-listed monetary group stated in a press release. Bloomberg News first reported information of the deal on Tuesday.
The acquisition is a milestone in SCB X’s bid to grow to be a number one regional monetary know-how group, chief govt officer Arthid Nanthawithaya stated within the assertion.
“This strategic acquisition strengthens our presence in the high-growth Asean market and also increases value and maximises return to our shareholders in the long term,” he stated.
The Home Credit buy marks the Thai lender’s entry into Vietnam and fingers it about 14 per cent of the nation’s shopper finance market, 15 million prospects, 14,000 point-of-sale areas and an skilled administration staff, the CEO stated. Once accomplished, the acquisition might be internet constructive to the underside line, he stated.
Home Credit kicked off the sale of the Vietnamese unit final yr. The enterprise additionally attracted curiosity from Thailand’s Kasikornbank and KB Kookmin Bank, a unit of South Korea’s KB Financial Group, Bloomberg News reported on the time.
Home Credit is streamlining its operations as its proprietor, PPF – managed by late Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s household – shifts funding focus again to Europe. Home Credit has been reviewing its companies in Asia after cancelling a US$1.5 billion Hong Kong preliminary public providing in 2019.
The lender disposed of its models in Indonesia and the Philippines to Bank of Ayudhya, a Thai arm of Japanese financial institution Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Home Credit employs 6,000 individuals in Vietnam, PPF stated in a separate assertion on Wednesday (Feb 28).
Founded in 1997, Home Credit has operations in a number of nations throughout Asia, central and jap Europe, and the previous Soviet Union. PPF is a holding firm with pursuits in finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and biotechnology. Kellner was 56 when he died in a helicopter crash in 2021.
Home Credit Vietnam had a internet revenue of 1,320 billion Vietnamese dong (S$72.7 million) in 2022 and has a cumulative development fee of 18.7 per cent in complete belongings over the past decade, SCB X stated. BLOOMBERG
Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg”