Experts said Vietnam is now one of the most attractive foreign investment destinations, with statistics showing that the real estate sector is one of the five largest recipients of foreign capital. M&A transactions in the real estate market mostly focus on residential property, offices for lease, hotels, retail and industrial parks.
Local investors are expanding investment portfolios with land plots that can be developed in co-operation with international developers into major projects.
M&A scene in Vietnam rela estate market Jan-Apr of 2019 remains consistent.
Among the five largest investors in the Vietnamese real estate sector including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, and Hong Kong, Japan stands out with its large number of investors and high capital disbursed, said Nguyen Huu Quang, deputy general director of Netland.
He revealed: “Japanese investors are looking for projects where they can co-operate with domestic investors, especially mid-end residential projects.”
This year, Netland will increase its co-operation with Japanese partner Sanei to acquire land plots through M&A and develop second home properties, high-end apartments, and urban development areas in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other locations, according to Quang.
Accordingly, Sanei has bought 20 percent of the stakes from Netland to co-develop a project in the south-central city of Nha Trang, providing over 1,500 high-end apartment units to the local market.
He added: “We have opened a representative office in Japan and see that Japanese investors are now very interested in hospitality projects.”
Apart from South Korean and Japanese investors, Hong Kong is also an emerging buyer for real estate projects. Hong Kong investors are also very keen on hospitality.
Major international developers in Vietnam hail from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and especially Japan, said Peter Ryder, CEO of leading real estate firm Indochina Capital. He has also seen growing interest from the Middle East countries.
Meanwhile, M&A in the Vietnam real estate market will accelerate in the rest of 2019 as buyers actively look for land for incoming projects, while many landowners are also seeking new partners with the government tightening loans for the real estate sector, said Pham Lam, CEO of property consulting firm DKRA.
He pointed out: “2019 will be a high time for investors who are holding cash capital because they can easily acquire projects from others. This is a great opportunity for project buyers as well.”
Propert prices in Vietnam have been on the rise and this is expected to continue in the next 5 to 10 years.
He added: “Foreign developers and investors are looking for companies with a large land bank or projects which are not too far from the central city areas to acquire or co-develop,” Lam said.
Recently, one of the most outstanding recent M&A transaction was the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Dong Nai Waterfront City by Nam Long Group. The stake was purchased from Singapore’s Portsville Pte., Ltd., for $100 million.
