Sacombank, the largest private lender in Vietnam, has floated its shares on the domestic stock exchange as part of an ongoing revolution of the banking sector in the southeast Asian country.
The Vietnamese lender listed all of its 189.9 million shares, the Financial Times has reported, receiving a price just below its target and giving it a market value of $927 million. The float is the first for a bank on the six year old Vietnamese stock exchange, which increased its value by a half again thanks to the Sacombank listing.
The float is part of a reinvention of the Vietnamese financial services sector, of which attracting overseas investment is a core goal. Following its stock sale Sacombank can now list ANZ Banking Group and Dragon Capital as major foreign investors. Each of the two overseas stakeholders holds close to the 10% maximum share allowed by domestic laws.
Sacombank intends to use the capital inflow from the flotation to reinvest in its branch network as it pursues its goal of developing into Vietnam’s largest retail bank.