HFT Securities Corporation has selected South Korea-based Hanwha Investment and Securities Co as its foreign investor allowed to buy more than 25 per cent of its charter capital without a public bid.

In a filing to the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, HFT said the Korean company could purchase shares from existing shareholders and if Hanwha fully satisfies Vietnamese law, it could buy up to 90.05 per cent of HFT’s capital.

To facilitate the Korean firm’s purchase, HFT in December last year eased its ceiling foreign ownership ratio to 100 per cent.

Shares of HFT are trading on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) at about VND10,000 (US$0.43) per share, valuing the company at VND100 billion ($4.3 million).

The Vietnamese firm reported total revenues of VND13.6 billion and net profit of VND5.1 billion in 2018, up 64 per cent in revenue and 57 per cent in profit year-on-year.

Hanwha Investment and Securities Co, established in 1962, provides asset management services, including brokerage and acquisition of stocks, bonds and derivatives.

The possible tie-up between a Vietnamese securities company with a Korean partner imitates other acquisitions in past years such as KB Securities acquiring Maritime Securities and Yuanta Hong Kong buying De Nhat Securities.

Korea’s attention

According to The Korean Herald, South Korean investors are shifting their eyes on funds that invest in Viet Nam, with 16 Viet Nam-related investment funds drawing net inflow of nearly 110 billion won ($98 million) in over the past three months.

The Korean newspaper, citing data of the financial market researcher FnGuide, said these funds attracted 453 billion won ($403.7 million) worth of capital over the past year while other foreign equity fund lost 406.8 billion ($362.5 million) overall.

The Viet Nam-related funds have enjoyed solid performance recently, with the products’ average rate of return at 6.13 per cent in the past three months. The rate even grew to 8.74 per cent in recent weeks. — VNS