Clients perform transactions at VPBank's office. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has just allowed the Japanese multinational banking financial services institution, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMCB), to buy newly issued shares of VPBank (VPB).

The central bank requires SMBC to fulfil all obligations and responsibilities of foreign investors specified in the amended and supplemented Law on Credit Institutions 2010, as well as related circulars and decrees.

To acquire 1.19 billion VPB shares, SMBC would pay more than VNĐ35.9 trillion (US$1.5 billion).

SMBC's ownership ratio accounted for 15 per cent of VPBank's capital after purchasing 1.19 billion shares. For the next five years, the transfer of the number of shares bought by SMBC will be limited.

After the deal, VPBank’s total equity will reach nearly VNĐ140 trillion.

Previously, VPBank estimated the time to conduct a private placement for SMBC in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 after the SBV approves SMBC’s purchasing proposal, and the State Securities Commission (SSC) announces that it would receive all registration documents to sell private stocks.

On the stock exchange, VPBank shares were traded at VNĐ20,600 a share. As a result, the selling price for SMBC is nearly 39 per cent higher than the current market price.

At the end of March, VPBank held a signing ceremony for a private placement agreement of 15 per cent of charter capital for SMBC, officially making SMBC Group a strategic investor in the bank.

This investment agreement is part of a capital increase plan that VPBank has implemented since 2022 to strengthen its long-term financial capacity and help the bank achieve its strategic growth target in the next five years.

At the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held in April, VPBank's management said that the bank would spend up to 30 per cent of its annual profit to pay dividends to shareholders in the next five years.

VPBank sets a target of credit growth with a compound growth rate of 35 per cent in five years, continuing to maintain its position as a multi-purpose bank with the key segment being retail, of which the proportion of retail in the total credit portfolio is over 70 per cent.

VPBank's Board of Directors recently approved increasing the maximum foreign ownership rate to 30 per cent of charter capital to ensure the implementation of the private placement plan. — VNS