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| JB Financial Group Chairman Kim Ki-hong |
JB Financial Group has taken over a brokerage in Vietnam owned by a global investment bank in a bid to strengthen its global business, the group said Monday.
The Korean financial group said it signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Hanoi-based Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities (MSGS), a provider of a range of financial services including advisory and brokerage services, investment banking, research and principal investing.
Following the agreement, JB Financial will hold a 100 percent stake in the brokerage with an equity capital of 300 billion Vietnamese Dong (VND) ― roughly about 15 billion won ($12.7 million).
"We acquired the brokerage to identify the firm's future growth engine amid saturation of the domestic market with competition becoming fiercer among local financial firms," JB Financial Group CEO Kim Ki-hong said. "This will not only help us with a diversified business portfolio but also provide us with sustainable growth."
The group plans to expand its business portfolio in the Southeast Asian country by engaging in investment consulting on real estate, infrastructure development, convertible bonds, bonds with warrants, corporate bonds and mergers and acquisitions (M&As).
The acquisition is the latest addition to its overseas business portfolio that has bank and capital units across Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
In 2016, the group's bank subsidiary Jeonbuk Bank acquired Phnom Penh Commercial Bank (PPCBank) in Cambodia. PPCBank reported over 10 billion won in net profit in the first six months of 2019.
The same year, the group's JB Woori Capital set up a corporate entity in Myanmar.
The group said it became the first provincial financial group with a range of diversified financial services provider in Vietnam, setting the stage to boost non-banking businesses.
"We chose our business partner in Vietnam, a country with ample growth potential," a JB official said. "The Southeast Asian country, with an annual growth rate of over 6 percent, is expected to see greater demands in many areas, including real-estate project financing."
