Hong Kong’s Beerco Limited has spent US$3.85 billion on acquiring a stake in Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd, a local unit of Thai Beverage Public Co., Ltd, raising foreign investment approvals in Vietnam in the first two months of the year to US$8.47 billion, more than doubling the amount seen in the same period last year, according to a report by the Foreign Investment Agency at the Ministry of Planning and Investment.


{keywords}

A worker checks the finished products on a production line at Sabeco, where 53.59% of the shares are held by Vietnam Beverage


Beerco Limited is wholly owned by Thai Beverage Public Co., Ltd.

Beerco’s investment accounted for up to 74.47% of the value of transactions made to acquire shares from local firms and 45% of the country’s total foreign investment commitments in the two-month period.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, foreign investors conducted 1,040 transactions to contribute funds to and acquire shares in local firms, with a combined value of US$5.17 billion, increasing fourfold against the first two months of 2018 and representing 61% of the country’s total pledged foreign investment.

In the period, another firm from Hong Kong, Goertek (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd, got an investment certificate for a project to develop a factory manufacturing electronics, network equipment and multimedia sound systems in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Goertek registered to pour US$260 million into the project, the largest amount of registered capital for a foreign-invested project in the first two months of the year.

Thanks to Beerco Limited and Goertek’s deals, Hong Kong became Vietnam’s largest foreign investor in the period. In January and February, Hong Kong invested in 52 fresh projects and injected more capital into 20 operational projects in Vietnam, with combined registered capital of US$4.3 billion, outpacing Singapore, at nearly US$1 billion, and South Korea, at US$873 million.

Beerco’s Vietnam Beverage stake acquisition also gave Hanoi the distinction of receiving the most foreign investment in the country so far this year, at more than US$4 billion, accounting for 47.3% of the total.

SGT