The 19,000-square meter office building, which is located in district 1, the center of Ho Chi Minh city (HCMC), is owned by Vietnam’s Maritime Bank.
Although Koramco is listed as the buyer, sources close to the matter say the main motivation for the deal is to provide space for Hanwha to expand its operation in Vietnam.
“The acquisition, if closed, will be meaningful in that there is no precedent for a South Korean investor buying a whole ownership of a building in Vietnam,” the source said.
Hanwha, one of the 10 largest conglomerates in Korea, established Hanwha Life Vietnam in 2008. In 2014, Hanwha increased its capital to US$103 million, thereby becoming one of the largest life insurance firms in Vietnam.
Recently, Hanwha has attracted attention thanks to its project of manufacturing aircraft engines in Vietnam. The 6-ha plant will manufacture components of aircraft engines for General Electric (GE), Pratt&Whitney (P&W) and Rolls-Royce. The plant is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2018.
Furthermore, Hanwha Techwin, a subsidiary of Hanwha, is constructing a US$100 million factory that will produce security equipment in Que Vo industrial park, Bac Ninh Province.
In the field of energy, Hanwha co-operated with BCG Bang Duong Energy Joint Stock Company in developing the US$100-million solar plant with capacity of and 100 MW in Thanh Hoa district, Long An province. The plant is scheduled to be built in the first quarter of 2018 and will generate electricity in 2019.
