Dozens of real estate merger and acquisition deals have been carried out in recent times. Among them, the transaction with the highest value is Vingroup transferring 55 per cent of charter capital at SDI Investment and Trade Development with a total transaction value of $982 million. SDI is known as an indirect major shareholder of Vincom Retail.

A vibrant period on horizon for mergers and acquisitions

In the last month of the year, Vingroup also transferred 80 per cent of capital in VYHT, a company that sells and operates part of the Vu Yen entertainment, housing, and eco-island park in the northern city of Haiphong, to foreign partners. The rest of the shares were transferred to Vinhomes.

Vu Yen has the commercial name of Vinhomes Royal and is expected to cost around $2.4 billion.

It is positioned by the investor in the high-end segment, with 11 subdivisions including housing types such as villas, townhouses, and shophouses surrounding the golf course. In addition, the venture also has other facilities such as entertainment areas, shopping centres, parks, and horse racing tracks.

According to data from the Vietnam Real Estate Association of Realtors, the average value of real estate deals in the first 10 months reached the highest level in the past six years and as twice as it was in 2023.

Tran Thi Khanh Linh, deputy director of Savills Vietnam, said, “High growth with sustainable foreign investment flows and strongly developing infrastructure are driving demand for most real estate segments such as housing, industry, and commercial property. This contributes to creating attractiveness of the Vietnamese market for investors.”

Currently, investors have plenty of opportunities to cooperate with local partners on large developments, Linh added. “Foreign demand for residential real estate remains high, no less than demand for industrial parks and offices. Foreign investors always require real estate to have a clear legal status and be ready for development,” Linh shared.

Meanwhile Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, investment director at DG Capital, cited that the financial health of many domestic real estate businesses is currently weak and does not have access to large capital sources, while development costs are high.

“Therefore, selling projects to investors with better financial potential and implementation capacity will help the seller collect large amounts of money to serve investment and business activities,” Phuong said.

“It is expected that a large amount of capital from foreign investors will pour into the Vietnamese real estate market in 2025-2026. Along with that, many transactions are in the process of active negotiation. Investment appetite is for projects with clean land, good quality, legal ownership, complete site clearance, and high development potential,” Phuong added.