Aggressive Expansion
The Hana Financial Group significantly expanded its financial business in Vietnam by acquiring a stake in the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), one of Vietnam's four state-run commercial banks.
According to a local financial official on August 8, KEB Hana Bank is going forward with the acquisition of a stake in the BIDV and was reportedly close to cutting a deal.
This deal will proceed in a way that the BIDV will raise new capital through capital increase to improve its financial structure, and Hana Bank will purchase the new shares. A source said the only final remaining process was to receive its approval from the central bank of Vietnam while the work was being finalized.
The BIDV, which started as Vietnamese Construction Bank in Vietnam in 1957, is one of Vietnam’s four major government-run commercial banks. Until 1994, the BIDV was a bank which was operated mainly by the government. But since 1995, the bank has been actively participating in financing, credit, financial and nonfinancial services as a commercial bank and playing the roles of an agency for the management of funds with domestic and foreign financial institutions.
In fact, earlier this year, chairman Kim of KEB Hana Bank met with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue according to local media in Vietnam. In particular, chairman Kim emphasized cooperation between Hana Bank and BIDV and said that the two companies will create good business opportunities if they continue to maintain partnership in fintech and mobile payment among others in Vietnam.