South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group will acquire a 10% stake in the Vietnamese e-commerce company Tiki through its two subsidiaries to become the latter’s third-largest shareholder.

Shinhan Financial will acquire 10% stake in Tiki. Photo: Tiki

Under the agreement, Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Card, the group’s two subsidiaries, will purchase about 7% and 3% stakes in Tiki, respectively. The deal value was undisclosed.

With more than 20 million customers, Tiki has continuously maintained double-digit growth, despite many challenges and fluctuations in the market, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the third quarter of 2021, the startup recorded dizzying growth in term of the number of products and services. Specifically, the fresh food delivery service TikiNGON has set a growth record of around 2,000% over the same period last year. 

In 2021, the Vietnamese all-in-one commerce platform secured US$258 million in series E funding round, led by a global insurance group AIA. The company will focus on the Vietnamese market, building infrastructure of technology and supply chain, training human resources and creating more stable jobs, Tran Ngoc Thai Son, Founder and CEO of Tiki said.

Previously, Shinhan Financial has been reportedly considered investing US$40 million in Tiki. 

A Shinhan Financial official said in a statement that by forming a strategic alliance with Tiki, the company will diversify its customer base, upgrade credit evaluation systems based on non-financial information, and cope better with the digital environment.

Based on Shinhan’s financial expertise and Tiki’s database in a broad range of areas, the South Korean group expected to develop a new converged digital ecosystem in Vietnam.