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Home / Economy / Banking & Finance
Standard Chartered ended partnership with Vietnam’s Asia Commercial Bank
Ngoc Thuy 14:51, 2018/01/15
Standard Chartered has transferred its entire 154 million stakes, or 15% capital in Vietnamese Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) to other investors, bringing a 12-year strategic alliance between the two parties to an end.
Specifically, Standard Chartered APR sold ACB shares equivalent to an 8.75% (approx. 90 million shares) to Estes Investment Ltd and Sather Gate Investment, while Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) transferred its 6.25% shares (or 64 million shares) to three investment companies, including Boardwalk South, Whistler Investment and Estes Investment, informed the Vietnam Depository Securities Center (VDS).
 
CB is currently in the top 7 Vietnam’s commercial banks in term of total assets.
ACB is currently in the top 7 Vietnam’s commercial banks in term of total assets.
Standard Chartered has previously withdrawn its representative from ACB’s board of directors. But it is the latest decision that really caught the market by surprise, especially when ACB has been maintaining a strong recovery in recent years. ACB is currently in the top 7 Vietnam’s commercial banks in term of total assets, recording trillions of VND in profit annually. 

ACB’s share has been performing impressively in the stock market lately since the middle of 2017. At present, its trading value per share is at 10-year high of around VND40,000 (US$1.75) on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, doubling the value recorded by the end of 2016.

In 2005, Standard Chartered parted away with US$22 million to acquire 8.56% ACB shares for price of VND62,000 (US$2.75) per share. The Group then increased its shares holding by purchasing the entire 6.16% stakes of IFC at ACB and another 7.1% of its convertible bonds. 

Before Standard Chartered’s exit from ACB, the banking sector has witnessed other cases of foreign banks divesting capital from Vietnamese banks. 

In 2012, ANZ transferred its entire 9.6% stakes at Sacombank to Eximbank after 6 years of investment. By the end of 2013, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC - Singapore) also transferred 15% capital at VP Bank, equivalent to 85.83 million shares for local individual investors. OCBC has been the strategic investor at VP Bank since September 2006 after acquiring an initial of 10% capital, which was then increased to nearly 15% in August 2008.

Commonwealth Bank Group (CBA) also ended 10 years of operation in Vietnam since 2008 after transferring its branch office in Ho Chi Minh to VIB in July 2017. However, CBA still hold 20% chartered capital at VIB. 

Techcombank also announced the exit of its strategic investor HSBC since 2005, as such, HSBC had divested 19.4% capital, or 172.35 million shares from the Vietnamese lender. 

Most recently, BNP Paribas also sold its entire 74 million shares holding in the local Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), or 18.86% capital, ending a 10-year strategic alliance between the two banks. The move, however, does not affect the French international banking group’s operation in Vietnam’s financial sector. 

That said, the lender now focuses on developing their own client franchise in Vietnam through branches in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. “Our capital investments total US$150 million and are in addition to our significant stake in Vietcombank - Cardif Life Insurance,” said Mr. Aymar De Liedekerke Beaufort, CEO of BNP Paribas of Ho Chi Minh Branch. “We see offshore interest in Vietnam continuing to grow in line with the country’s strong economic development.”
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