With investment portfolio of nearly VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in Vietnam, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC is one of the largest investors in the country, along with Dragon Capital, VinaCapital and Korea Investment Management (KIM).
Illustrative photo.
|
An investment in Masan will join GIC purchases in Vietnam's airlines, banking and real estate industries. GIC Chief Executive Officer Lim Chow Kiat said last month that he saw potential opportunities in emerging markets, which are experiencing "idiosyncratic" rather than "systemic" challenges, according to Bloomberg.
Additionally, GIC also holds stakes in VinHomes (5.74%), Vietjet Air (5%), Vinamilk (0.7%), FPT (3.5%), Pan Group, Vinasun and others. Among them, VinHomes is its largest investment to date with the current market value of VND15 trillion (US$639.25 million), followed by Masan VND6 trillion (US$255.7 million) and Vietjet Air VND3.7 trillion (US$157.68 million).
In 2015, GIC reportedly acquired a 10% stake in Vietnam's leading technology firm VNG for US$100 million, implying the valuation of the latter at US$1 billion.
Established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves, GIC is a global long-term investor with over US$100 billion in assets in over 40 countries worldwide.
In addition to GIC, the Singaporean government also owns another investment fund in the name of Temasek Holding with assets of US$200 billion.
