AEON completed the acquisition of 100% capital of a financial company

The management agency approved this deal more than a year after Southeast Asia Bank (SeABank) and Aeon Financial signed a capital transfer contract at the Finance Company (PTF) with a value of 4,300 billion VND.

The capital sale plan is part of the roadmap approved by the SeABank shareholders’ meeting, aiming to restructure and increase financial and business capacity in a key direction. In addition to transferring capital contributions at PTF, SeABank and Aeon Financial also aim to become comprehensive partners.

PTF was established in October 1998 and is one of the first financial companies in Vietnam with a charter capital of 1,550 billion VND, a total staff of nearly 2,000 people and serving 200,000 customers in 30 provinces and cities. Before returning to the hands of a Japanese enterprise, this financial company was acquired by SeABank from Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) in 2018.

Aeon Financial, founded in 1981, is a member of the financial segment of Aeon Group – Japan’s leading retail group. In addition to the Japanese market, the company operates in the fields of credit card business, installment finance, banking, insurance… in 11 countries.

In Vietnam, Aeon Financial began operating in 2008 through the establishment of ACS Vietnam Trading Company Limited, providing installment sales services with retailers for consumer goods.

Currently, the market has 16 financial companies licensed to operate by the State Bank. For many years, the management agency has not issued any new licenses. Therefore, mergers and acquisitions of financial companies are a shortcut for foreign investors to be allowed to do business and expand their network and staff in Vietnam.

By the end of 2023, Vietnam’s consumer finance market has outstanding debt of about 2.4 million billion VND, of which outstanding credit debt of financial companies is about 135,000 billion VND. This level is down about VND 70,000 billion compared to the end of 2022.

In the context of difficult consumer lending, mergers and acquisitions of financial companies are still happening enthusiastically. Recently, Home Credit Group transferred 100% of its capital contribution in Home Credit Vietnam Financial Company to Thailand’s SCB Bank (The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited) under Thailand’s Financial Technology Group, for 22,000 billion VND.

Previously, the consumer finance market also recorded the deal of VPBank selling 49% of charter capital at FE Credit to Sumitomo Mitsui (Japan) bringing in 1.4 billion USD.