Many famous M&A transactions occurred in the first six months of the year

DNHN - The advent of the world's "big boys" has brought Vietnam a slew of popular M&A transactions in all areas of the real estate industry. As a result, office and industrial real estate, as well as project development land, accounted for 39 per cent, 35 per cent, and 26 per cent of total transaction value, respectively.

The purchase of Capital Place office building - a Grade A office building in the heart of Hanoi - by Viva Land from CapitaLand Development for $550 million launched the office real estate M&A market. This high-end office building consists of two 37-story office towers that have been chosen to host the headquarters of numerous global firms in Hanoi.

Previously, Viva Land purchased Saigon One Tower and renamed it IFC One, Saigon. The project is located in the heart of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, and is designed as a commercial building containing offices, flats, and a commercial centre on a total floor area of 124,100m2.

In the housing segment, the real estate market has seen a series of blockbuster deals, most notably when Novaland Group purchased the Kenton Node project and renamed it the Grand Sentosa luxury apartment project with over 1,640 apartments in Phuoc Kien commune, Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh City from Tai Nguyen Construction Production Trading Co., Ltd.

Another major transaction is Masterise Homes' acquisition of Saigon Binh. A new initiative called The Global City. The 117ha project is situated close to the Saigon Sports City complex and near the Long Thanh - Dau Giay motorway.

Recently, the US investment firm Warburg Pincus announced the "pumping" of USD 250 million into Novaland to enhance the land fund and develop Novaland's current projects in key places, taking advantage of steadily improving infrastructure in the South.

VinaCapital and Dragon Capital, two foreign investment firms, have announced a USD 103 million investment in Hung Thinh Land Joint Stock Company.

According to the Cushman & Wakefield research, the "hottest" section of the market remains industrial real estate, accounting for 35% of the total transaction value with several ongoing agreements.

In particular, the beginning of January 2022 marks the start of a busy year for Vietnam's real estate market with an announcement from GLP, the world's leading investment manager and business builder in the fields of logistics, data infrastructure, and renewable energy, when it establishes GLP Vietnam Development Partners I with a total investment of 1.1 billion USD in six logistics centre projects totalling up to 900,000m2.

In February 2022, BW Industrial Development Joint Stock Company, a joint venture between Warburg Pincus and Becamex IDC, announced the purchase of roughly 74,000 square meters of land in the Bac Tien Phong Industrial Park in Quang Ninh province, constructed by DEEP C.

CapitaLand Development recently announced the signing of an investment cooperation pact with the People's Committee of Bac Giang province. The two parties will encourage the creation of an urban-industrial-logistics project spanning more than 400 hectares throughout the province, with a one-billion-dollar financial commitment (equivalent to 22,700 billion VND).

Boustead Projects Co., Ltd. recently bought a 49 per cent share in KTG & Boustead Logistics Industry Joint Stock Company in Yen Phong Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province for $6.9 million.

In addition to conventional real estate, Gaw Capital Partners, a private investment company located in Hong Kong (China), announced an investment in data centre real estate in June with a Level 3 Data Center project with an area of up to 6,056m2 in Ho Chi Minh City's High-Tech Park.

According to Ms Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, the rise of private investment funds has offered an ample supply of funding for M&A transactions. These investors are continuously on the lookout for active properties or joint ventures with well-known partners.

PV