Before the Thiên Long ballpoint pen incident, many Vietnamese brands fell into foreign hands.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - While previously the M&A game was dominated by Thai billionaires, in recent years, Japanese and Korean tycoons have also become increasingly active in mergers and acquisitions in Vietnam.

News that Kokuyo Group (Japan) will acquire Thien Long Group (owner of the Thien Long ballpoint pen brand) has attracted attention. Some believe that partnering with foreign investors will be a "launching pad" for Vietnamese businesses, while many others express regret at the loss of another once-famous brand to a foreign entity.

According to the plan, Kokuyo will acquire a total of 65.01% of the shares, officially making Thien Long a subsidiary. The estimated value of the transaction is 27.6 billion Yen (equivalent to 4,700 billion VND).

Thien Long is a long-established stationery company founded in 1981, chaired by Mr. Co Gia Tho. After decades of development, from its image associated with the "national product" Thien Long ballpoint pen, the company has become a stationery company with a large market share in Vietnam.

Prior to Thien Long, many Vietnamese brands were acquired by foreign companies.

Before Thien Long ballpoint pens, many Vietnamese brands fell into foreign hands (Photo: DT).

P/S, X-Men, Highlands... were successively sold off.

Among these, P/S is a typical M&A deal where a Vietnamese company was acquired by a foreign entity. P/S Chemical Company (Dạ Lan), under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry, developed from 1975. The P/S toothpaste brand quickly became widely known and rapidly captured 60% of the market between 1988 and 1993.

By 1998, unable to withstand the losses, Mr. Trinh Thanh Nhon - the owner of Da Lan - agreed to sell 100% of his capital to Unilever.

The X-Men brand – a brand of International Household Goods Company (ICP), jointly owned by Mr. Phan Quoc Cong and a friend – had to sell 85% of its shares to Marico (India) in 2010. The reason was that at that time the economy was in a severe crisis, bank interest rates reached 20%, and businesses were going bankrupt in droves.

David Thai's Viet Thai International (VTI) company also caused a stir when it sold off the Highlands Coffee brand – his prized possession that brought him fame. The buyer was Jollibee (Philippines), which reportedly spent $25 million to acquire 49% of VTI's Vietnamese business and 60% of its Hong Kong (China) business.

Thailand is gaining dominance, while new "powerhouses" like Japan and South Korea are beginning to emerge.

In the retail sector, a series of Vietnamese supermarkets have been acquired through M&A by Thai "giants". In April 2016, Central Group spent $1.14 billion to acquire Big C Vietnam. Prior to that, in 2015, Central Group spent over $200 million to acquire 49% of the shares of the company owning the Nguyen Kim electronics supermarket chain. Similarly, the Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam supermarket chain also fell into Thai hands.

On the stock market, looking at the most recent high-profile deals, the Thai billionaire spent nearly $5 billion to acquire 53.59% of Sabeco in Vietnam. Each Sabeco share was priced at 320,000 VND by the Thai investor, higher than the market price of approximately 309,000 VND/share – which was among the most expensive on the stock market at that time.

However, despite the amount spent to acquire Sabeco, ThaiBev has not yet fully recouped the interest payments from the 110,000 billion VND deal (as noted in a report by Rong Viet Securities at the end of October).

Another deal that attracted significant attention on the stock market: In early 2018, The Nawaplastic Industries - a subsidiary of Thailand's SCG Group - officially increased its shareholding in Binh Minh Plastic Company to over 54%.

Unlike Thaibev, The Nawaplastic Industries has received over 2.8 trillion VND in dividends this year alone – slightly more than the capital they spent to acquire Binh Minh Plastics.

While previously the M&A game was dominated by Thai billionaires, in recent years, Japanese and South Korean tycoons have also become increasingly active in mergers and acquisitions in Vietnam.

For example, Japan recently completed two consecutive deals: Kokuyo acquired Thien Long, Asahi Life took over MVI Life, and retail giant AEON quickly established its presence by acquiring 49% of Citimart and 30% of Fivimart in 2015.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/truoc-chu-but-bi-thien-long-nhieu-thuong-hieu-viet-roi-vao-tay-nuoc-ngoai-20251208171738794.htm