SK to invest $340 mn in Vietnam’s major retail platform The CrownX
Jeong Min Nam
Nov 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
Masan Group chairman Nguyen Dang Quang (Courtesy of Masan Group) South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group said on Nov. 11 that it agreed to invest $340 million in The CrownX, a retail platform of Masan Group Corp., Vietnam’s top F&B and retail company.
Through the investment, SK aims to strengthen a strategic partnership with Masan for cooperation in Vietnam’s retail, logistics and fintech sectors that are expected to rapidly grow.
SK Group signed a deal to acquire secondary shares in The CrownX. Post the completion of the transaction, SK will own a 4.9% stake in The CrownX, while Masan will hold 85.0%, according to the Vietnamese company.
The CrownX has two subsidiaries – Masan Consumer Holdings, Vietnam’s No. 1 food and beverage company, as well as WinCommerce, the country’s top retailer.
Masan Consumer has been reporting revenue growth of more than 20% since 2018 as it succeeded not only in the existing business such as home convenience foods but also new sectors including household goods.
WinCommerce rules more than 50% of the country’s modern retail markets, operating 2,300 convenience stores and 120 supermarkets. It recently launched the online retail business in cooperation with Lazada, Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace in Southeast Asia.
SK’s investment is a part of its chairman Chey Tae-won’s strategy to make preemptive investments in promising local companies and create new markets through strategic partnerships, sources at the group said.
Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.