In 2019, the ‘super wealthy’ businessman who was believed to be the second richest billionaire in Vietnam, revealed a plan to seek $3 billion for his ambition to be No 1 in Southeast Asia in the beverage industry.

The company reportedly rejected the commercial deal worth $2.5 billion offered by another billionaire in the region.

According to Bloomberg, the owner of Tan Hiep Phat Tran Quy Thanh at that time said he was looking for a strategic partner who could inject $3 billion into Tan Hiep Phat in a plan to turn the drink manufacturer into another ‘Red Bull’ in the region.

The partner not only needed to have a lot of capital, but also technology and ‘know-how’ or own a large distribution network.

Tan Hiep Phat hoped that it could increase its revenue by twofold to $1 billion within five years and increase the value of the enterprise to $5 billion.

The new plan was deployed when the enterprise poured $500 million into three factories and planned another $500 million in the next development stage.

Prior to that, according to Forbes in 2012, Tan Hiep Phat turned down a deal offered by Coca-Cola, saying that the two sides had different visions.

If Thanh had accepted the historic M&A (merger and acquisition) deal, he would have been listed as one of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, before billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong.

With his appearance in ForbesBooks in 2018, Thanh was expected to be named to the list of dollar billionaires.

At that time, Thanh’s daughter – Tran Uyen Phuong – also became famous. However, she lost in an investment deal in an enterprise which was hoped to become a unicorn in the media industry. The decision to leave Yeah1 step by step caused a big loss.

In late 2021, according to the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE), Phuong sold YEG shares of Yeah1 where Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong was president. The price was not made public, but the market price at that time was VND15,000 per share. If the transaction was made at that price, Phuong would take a big loss as she bought shares at VND50,000 per share.

Expanding business

For many years, Tan Hiep Phat has expanded its business to the real estate sector. It set up a debt trading company with capital of VND100 billion which focuses on ‘hunting’ for land for real estate development.

Tan Hiep Phat is a family run company with huge profits. The corporation’s profits sometimes were even higher than foreign companies such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

After many years of stiff competition, the Vietnamese bottled water market has five dominant enterprises, including three foreign names and two Vietnamese names. One of the two Vietnamese names is Tan Hiep Phat.

However, Tan Hiep Phat has also experienced scandals, including the “VND500 million fly’ (a customer in Tien Giang found a fly in an unopened bottle of water of Tan Hiep Phat). Its revenue did not increase in 2014-2017 though it put into operation a new factory – Number One Ha Nam. 

However, the enterprise regained growth in 2018 and maintained growth in 2019 when it bought  Number One Chu Lai which brought VND1.4 trillion to the group.

Beverages have brought big money to Thanh and his family. This could be why Thanh and related individuals had savings of up to VND6 trillion in a case related to Pham Cong Danh and Construction Bank.

Setting up tens of real estate firms

Tan Hiep Phat has joined the real estate market recently, but Thanh’s family is believed to own many land plots in southern provinces.

In 2018-2019, Tan Hiep Phat owner set up more than 20 companies operating in the field real estate, with a total charter capital of VND20 trillion.

In 2019, within one week, Thanh’s wife and his two daughters Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich, registered 10 real estate firms, with charter capital of VND1.5 trillion each. Phuong held 99.9 percent of capital in the companies, and the remaining belonged to Bich and Thanh’s wife.

Several months after the establishment, 10 real estate firms were dissolved. Of the 20 companies established, only a few still operate, including Century Bay Da Nang, which owns two ‘golden land plots’ (15,000 sq m) in Son Tra district, Da Nang, and Song Thanh Real Estate that runs Suntory Bay in Hai Chau district, Da Nang.

Tan Hiep Phat also participated in many land auctions. In 2017-2020, of 9 land plots Ba Ria-Vung Tau auctioned successfully, three were sold to Thanh and his daughter Tran Ngoc Bich.

Manh Ha