Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuy (right).

According to the plan, LienVietPostBank (LPB) will hold the 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 29 to discuss the approval of the proposal on additional elections of members of the Board of Directors (BOD) for the 2018 – 2023 term.

Information about the nominees has not been announced yet. However, after recent developments, investors have mentioned a name that may become the new owner of the bank: tycoon Nguyen Duc Thuy (Boss Thuy), owner of Thaigroup (Xuan Thanh group in the past).

Thuy is a famous businessman in Ninh Binh province. Born in 1976, "boss Thuy" made his career from cement production and was famous as an investor in football. He is also known as the boss of Xuan Thanh Group who surpassed many tycoons in the North to acquire Kim Lien Hotel in Hanoi.

Thuy currently holds nearly 86 million shares of Thaiholdings (THD) on the stock exchange, worth nearly VND17.5 trillion. However, in reality, Thuy's fortune may be even more.

THD shares of Thaiholdings JSC has increased sharply since being listed in mid-2020, and has exceeded VND200,000 per share.

Thuy is recently believed to have bought a large amount of LienVietPostBank (LPB) shares. Earlier, Thuy also participated in the ceremony of playing of gongs with the bank's key leaders on the day that LienVietPostBank shares were listed.

In an event held in early February, Thuy was introduced as the representative of major shareholders of ThaiHoldings and LienVietPostBank. This was the first time Thuy was introduced as a major shareholder of LienVietPostBank.

With Thaiholdings shares, Thuy is the ninth richest person on the stock exchange, after only six USD billionaires ranked by Forbes: Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, Mr. Tran Dinh Long, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Mr. Ho Hung Anh (Chairman of Techcombank), Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang (Masan) and Mr. Bui Thanh Nhon, Ms. Pham Thu Huong and Mr. Nguyen Phat Dat (PDR).

Recently, Thaiholdings mortgaged its headquarters to borrow VND700 billion from tycoon Do Quang Hien’s Saigon Hanoi Commercial Bank (SHB). The collateral for this loan is real estate at 210 Tran Quang Khai and 17 Tong Dan Hanoi owned by Ton Dan Hanoi JSC.

Previously, Thaiholdings also approved a maximum loan of VND500 billion at LienVietPostBank with shares of Kim Lien Tourism Joint Stock Company as mortgage to supplement working capital to serve business activities.

The current Board of Directors of LienVietPostBank has six members: Chairman Huynh Ngoc Huy, Standing Vice Chairman Pham Doan Son (cum CEO), Mr. Duong Cong Toan, Mrs. Chu Thi Lan Huong, Mr. Le Hong Phong, and Mrs. Duong Hoai Lien.

Previously, Mr. Duong Cong Minh was the chairman of LienVietPostBank but he left the bank to take ownership of Sacombank. After Minh, Mr. Nguyen Duc Huong, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thang and currently Mr. Huynh Ngoc Huy are the bank’s chairmen.

Thuy left many imprints on the market. In 2015, Thuy spent VND1 trillion to acquire 52% shares of Kim Lien Tourism Company, the owner of 3.5 hectares of “golden land” at 5-7 Dao Duy Anh Street, Hanoi.

In 2020, Thuy stood out again with the listing of Thaiholdings. In mid-August 2020 (two months after Thaiholdings was listed on the HNX), the Extraordinary General Meeting of Thaiholdings JSC passed a resolution on raising capital from VND539 billion to VND3,500 billion to buy an 82% stake in Thaigroup - a business also owned by Thuy and formerly the parent company of Thaiholdings.

With the back door listing, Thaiholdings was said to hold a large amount of assets after acquiring Thaigroup.

Although the business results have been modest, Thaigroup expects a big profit from the transfer of many investments. Thaigroup's main business is the trade of imported coal used as input materials for cement factories.

Thaigroup holds stakes in many large businesses and projects such as the Kim Lien Tourism Joint Stock Company, Ton Dan Hanoi Joint Stock Company (owner of Thaiholdings Tower), Phu Quoc Enclave JSC, Quang Nam Cement Factory, and land in Xuan Thanh urban area.

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