South Korean conglomerate SK Group plans to purchase US$1 billion worth of stocks in Viet Nam’s real estate-retail-tech giant Vingroup, according to Bloomberg.

The investment could be made as early as April, Bloomberg said on Friday, citing South Korea’s Maeil Business Paper.

Vingroup has recently asked shareholders to approve its private issuance of 250 million shares to a maximum of five foreign institutional investors to raise at least VND25 trillion (US$1.07 billion).

The capital raised from share issuance would be spent on developing technological and industrial sub-units (VND6 trillion), paying loans and interests (VND10 trillion), and providing extra fundd for the parent firm and its subsidiaries (VND9 trillion).

Vingroup is now the largest listed company in Viet Nam by market capitalisation, which reached VND373.42 trillion at the end of Friday.

The company shares gained 1.4 per cent to end Friday at VND118,600 per share.

In 2018, SK Group bought 110 million shares in the largest private equity consumer firm Masan Group for VND11 trillion ($470 million), becoming the largest foreign shareholder with a 9.5 per cent stake.

The South Korean group operates in the fields of energy, telecommunication, high-tech components, logistics and services. It is present in more than 40 countries and territories, earning $141 billion in 2017. — VNS