SK to invest $340 mn in Vietnam’s major retail platform The CrownX

South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group said on Nov. 11 that it agreed to invest $340 million in The CrownX, a retail platform of Masan Group Corp., Vietnam’s top F&B and retail company.

Through the investment, SK aims to strengthen a strategic partnership with Masan for cooperation in Vietnam’s retail, logistics and fintech sectors that are expected to rapidly grow.

SK Group signed a deal to acquire secondary shares in The CrownX. Post the completion of the transaction, SK will own a 4.9% stake in The CrownX, while Masan will hold 85.0%, according to the Vietnamese company.

The CrownX has two subsidiaries – Masan Consumer Holdings, Vietnam’s No. 1 food and beverage company, as well as WinCommerce, the country’s top retailer.

Masan Consumer has been reporting revenue growth of more than 20% since 2018 as it succeeded not only in the existing business such as home convenience foods but also new sectors including household goods.

WinCommerce rules more than 50% of the country’s modern retail markets, operating 2,300 convenience stores and 120 supermarkets. It recently launched the online retail business in cooperation with Lazada, Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace in Southeast Asia.

SK’s investment is a part of its chairman Chey Tae-won’s strategy to make preemptive investments in promising local companies and create new markets through strategic partnerships, sources at the group said.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.