Banks are actively transferring and raising capital.

VIB saw a massive block trade between foreign investors; BID successfully offered nearly 124 million shares; TCB is considering selling 15% of its capital to foreign investors; HDB is still on its journey to find a strategic investor.

VIB saw a massive block trade between foreign investors; BID successfully offered nearly 124 million shares; TCB is considering selling 15% of its capital to foreign investors; HDB is still on its journey to find a strategic investor.

The story of banks raising and selling capital is very active in the market, especially the progress and developments of issuances by the Big4 banks, which are starting quite positively.

Specifically, the Vietnam Investment and Development Commercial Bank (BIBV; stock code BID) announced the successful private placement of over 123.8 million shares. The selling price was 38,800 VND per share, raising over 4,805 billion VND.

Of that total, domestic investors bought 38.7 million shares and foreign investors bought nearly 85.2 million shares.

The list of institutional investors participating in the purchase of BID shares shows that Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL) purchased the largest quantity with nearly 59 million shares, increasing its ownership stake in BIDV to 0.845% of the share capital. This is followed by the State Capital Investment and Business Corporation (SCIC, 38.7 million BID shares), Hanoi Investments Holdings Limited (15.7 million BID shares), DC Developing Markets Strategies Public Limited Company (8.5 million BID shares), and Samsung Vietnam Securities Master Investment Trust (1.9 million BID shares).

Besides the aforementioned transaction, analysts also expect the bank's plan to privately issue 9% of its shares to strategic investors to be completed in 2025. Speaking at a recent investor conference, BIDV leaders stated that the bank is working with potential investors to carry out the first private placement, at a rate of 2.9%, in the first quarter of 2025. The remaining 6.1% will be issued later, depending on market conditions.

If this deal is successful, according to SSI Research's calculations, BIDV's capital adequacy ratio will improve to 10.5% from the current 9%.

The joint venture advising on the aforementioned transaction of nearly 124 million BIDV shares was HSBC - SSI. As the advisory firm, SSI experts believe the biggest challenge for the BIDV transaction was the Vietnamese regulations restricting the transfer of shares for one year during the private placement. However, investors were not allowed to purchase at a discount but had to buy at market price, putting those participating in the offering at a significant disadvantage compared to those buying shares on the stock exchange . Therefore, the approach to resolving this issue, and the biggest difference compared to previous transactions, was the persistence and consistency in connecting with investors over a long period.

In every transaction, the role of the consulting firm is extremely important, not only in connecting investors but also in valuing and structuring the deal, building a strategy for implementing the offering, making the transaction attractive to investors while ensuring optimal benefits for the company and shareholders.

According to Ms. Hoang Hai Yen, Deputy Director of the Investment Banking Services Division at SSI Securities Corporation, the Vietnamese capital market has always been a focus for banks as a channel for raising capital. Private placement transactions advised by SSI, such as TPB and HDB in 2018, and MBB in 2020, as well as other market transactions like GIC's investment in VCB in 2019, or the participation of strategic shareholders like Keb Hana in BIDV and SMBC in VPB, are typical examples. Therefore, the success of BIDV's share offering could further encourage banks to diversify their capital raising channels, especially state-owned banks which have stringent requirements for offering conditions. This is particularly significant given the expectation of strong growth in the Vietnamese capital market, with the prospect of upgrading to emerging market status by FTSE this year.

Furthermore, with the prospect of a market upgrade by FTSE and reforms in corporate governance, investment flows into Vietnam's capital market are expected to increase sharply in the near future, opening up many opportunities for banks and other businesses to raise capital.

Besides BID, another highly anticipated transaction by a Big4 bank , Vietcombank (VCB), also plans a private placement of 6.5% of its shares, expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Recently, VCB also finalized its shareholder list for the stock dividend payment with an issuance ratio of up to 49.5%, thereby increasing its charter capital from VND 55,890 billion to VND 83,557 billion, the highest in the banking system currently.

Last week, a massive block trade in VIB bank shares also attracted market attention. According to SSI, CBA, the co-bookbuilder and advisor for this transaction, completed the sale of its remaining 4.4% stake in Vietnam International Commercial Bank (VIB), with a transaction value of VND 2,760 billion, equivalent to USD 108 million, on March 5th.

With CBA no longer being a strategic shareholder of VIB, SSI Research assesses that VIB will have more opportunities to seek a new strategic partner through a private placement in the near future. This move will not only help increase capitalization but also bring valuable expertise and synergy in operations, supporting long-term business expansion and enhancing competitiveness.

In late 2024, Techcombank's leadership announced plans to sell 10-15% of its shares to a long-term strategic investor, with a particular preference for partners with technological capabilities. At that time, the foreign ownership limit (foreign room) at Techcombank was 22%, but Techcombank still considered 15% feasible, as a shareholder owning 8-9% of the shares was planning to divest, facilitating the transaction.

On the stock market, TCB shares are performing quite positively amid expectations of an IPO for its subsidiary, Techcombank Securities (TCBS), and the catalyst of selling capital to foreign partners, in addition to fairly positive fundamental indicators.

Many deals are also expected to see new developments in 2025, such as Nam A Bank and LPbank, which are in the process of negotiating with foreign partners to find suitable strategic investors.

Similarly , HDBank has sought shareholder approval to temporarily reduce the foreign ownership limit from 20% to 17.5%, in order to prepare for strategic projects . This temporary reduction aims to prepare for the bank's future strategic projects, ensuring compliance with regulations and aligning with the investment needs of foreign shareholders.

Currently, HDBank's search for foreign partners is being assessed by analysts as a strong catalyst, generating investment ideas for HDB shares. In addition, there is information about its significantly higher-than-average credit growth potential thanks to the mandatory acquisition of weak banks.

In 2025, commercial banks are expected to engage in a race to increase their charter capital, primarily through two methods: dividend payments in shares and/or capital increases through private placements. These capital increases aim to improve the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and meet the financing needs for credit growth throughout the year, in the context of the government's target of at least 8% economic growth.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ngan-hang-soi-dong-chuyen-nhuong-von-tang-von-d251850.html