Masan Group (stock code MSN) has just closed the final round of capital mobilization in 2021 for The CrownX (TCX) - a consumer - retail platform combining WinCommerce and Masan Consumer Holdings. In this round of capital mobilization, a group of investors including TPG, Abu Dhabi National Investment Fund (ADIA) and SeaTown Holdings invested 350 million USD in The CrownX.
ADIA manages a portfolio of approximately $649 billion globally.
Previously, in April 2021, SK acquired 16.26% of VinCommerce shares for a total cash value of 410 million USD. In June 2021, the group of investors Alibaba and Baring Private Equity Asia completed the purchase of 5.5% of newly issued shares of The CrownX for 400 million USD. By the end of June this year, Masan and The CrownX had spent nearly 400 million USD to buy TCX shares from minority shareholders. In November, SK Group continued to invest 340 million USD in Masan to own 4.9% of The Crown X shares. Thus, a total of 1.5 billion USD was poured into The CrownX in 2021, despite the period when the economy experienced many fluctuations due to the pandemic.
Trust from the "giants"
Notably, The CrownX’s latest round of funding, in addition to attracting new strategic investors, also brings added value to existing shareholders. With TPG, ADIA and SeaTown agreeing to invest in The CrownX at a price of 105 USD/share (equivalent to 2.4 million VND/share), the company’s current valuation is up to 8.2 billion USD, up 12% compared to the time when the group of investors Alibaba, Barings and SK invested.
Masan plans to develop a Consumer - Tech ecosystem based on the telecommunications platform from Reddi.
In this capital raising round, The CrownX welcomed new investors including SeaTown Holdings and ADIA. SeaTown is directly owned by Temasek Holdings. Temasek is one of the two largest investment funds of the Singapore government along with GIC. Temasek is currently managing an investment portfolio of approximately 400 billion USD, focusing on the Asian region. With a cautious taste, putting safety first when deciding to invest, it can be seen that Temasek has strong confidence in the future of The CrownX in the future, especially the prospect of IPO on the international stock exchange.
After completing the fundraising round in 2021, Masan CEO Danny Le said the group aims to IPO The CrownX on the international stock exchange in 2023-2024. With each investment cycle, funds often expect the investment to increase in value by at least 2-3 times. Thus, it is likely that "sharks" like Temasek are placing their faith in The CrownX's valuation to reach $20 billion in the next 2-3 years after IPO.
Meanwhile, ADIA is still a relatively new name in the M&A market in Vietnam. The CrownX is the first Vietnamese enterprise to catch the eye of this investment fund from the Middle East. ADIA currently manages an investment portfolio of about 649 billion USD, the second largest among sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East.
With their rapid growth over time, sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East have become increasingly important in the global financial system. Middle Eastern countries also use these investment funds to diversify their income sources by investing in global assets, reducing their dependence on oil.
Meanwhile, TPG is an “acquaintance” having accompanied Masan for more than a decade. In 2009, TPG invested in Masan when the new Vietnamese consumer goods group was preparing to list on the HoSE. At that time, Masan’s capitalization was 900 million USD. Today, Masan Group’s value has exceeded 8 billion USD and continues to grow. Previously, the Korean giant SK also invested many times in Masan and its subsidiaries.
Thus, there is clearly a basis to show that the recent $350 million capital call was just the first "approach" of ADIA and Temasek, especially in the context that The CrownX's valuation may increase from now until the IPO milestone in the next 2-3 years.
The pieces are gradually completed
With the support of the "giants", Masan is not only supported with financial resources but also benefits from the experience of strategic partners. This is the premise for Masan to accelerate The CrownX on the digital transformation journey, becoming an integrated retail - consumer - technology platform from offline to online.
Prior to The CrownX, TPG and ADIA invested $600 million and $750 million respectively in Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom operator, owned by Reliance Retail, the largest retail chain in the South Asian country of a billion people.
Interestingly, The CrownX's story has many similarities with Reliance Retail - Jio Platforms. It is clear that TPG and ADIA have seen the potential of the consumer - technology - telecommunications company model. And in Vietnam, The CrownX is a pioneer in this race, converging many factors for rapid growth, bringing breakthrough value to investors.
The CrownX has the core pieces to conquer its goal. WinCommerce is currently the largest retail system for essential goods in Vietnam in terms of point of sale scale. At the same time, platforms such as Phuc Long, Techcombank, and Reddi mobile network can serve almost all the most essential needs in consumers' daily lives.
By serving consumers with a variety of products and services integrated into the WinMart+ store model, The CrownX owns the only offline-to-offline integration platform with the most optimal investment cost, while increasing customer accessibility. In the near future, Masan will likely take advantage of Reddi's loyalty customer platform to convert cash payment habits to cashless, serve consumers with "buy now, pay later" products, and provide asset management and investment solutions.
In addition, it is also possible that Masan could cooperate with a fintech partner to research data to complete the digital ecosystem. M&A is a method often used by Masan to implement its development strategy. Masan believes that in the coming time, fintech solutions that have not been properly served to the majority of consumers will be a game changer.
Source: Dan Tri
Source: https://www.masangroup.com/vi/news/masan-news/Masan-consumer-retail-platform-The-CrownX-begins-new-chapter-by-raising-usd-1-point-5-b-from-investors.html
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