HCM City (VNA) - Many Vietnamesebusinesses conducted successful mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in 2019 and2020 but the market was still led by foreign investors, the Vietnam M&AForum in HCM City on November 24 heard.

Outstanding M&A deals since 2019 includethose between KEB Hana Bank and BIDV, VinaCapital and the Thu Cuc Hospital,Masan Consumer and VinCommerce & VinEco, the Stark Corporation and ThiphaCables & Dovina, FWWD and VCLI, and Vinamilk and GTN.

Most deals between June 2019 and October 2020were in the real estate, finance and banking, industry, and retail sectors,with major M&As also seen in logistics, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and healthcare,and construction.

M&As by Vietnamese enterprises accounted forone-third of the total value during the period.

Foreign investors, however, especially thosefrom Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Singapore, still dominate thelocal M&A market.

For example, 19 deals between Japanese investorsand Vietnamese companies were announced in September this year alone. Thaiinvestors, meanwhile, continue to carry out M&As in the manufacturing andprocessing sector.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment TranQuoc Phuong said M&As have become an effective channel for capitalmobilisation and helped accelerate growth model reform, economicrestructuring, and the diversification of business ownership forms.

They are also a “shortcut” for foreignbusinesses to enter or expand their presence in Vietnam, he said.

Some experts said the equitisation ofState-owned enterprises and the divestment of State capital from enterprises havenot been carried out on schedule since 2019. COVID-19 and the new normal havealso affected M&A activities around the world, including in Vietnam.

The local M&A market has been growingstrongly over the last decade, with thousands of deals worth nearly 50 billionUSD in total.

Market researchers Euromonitor International forecastthat M&A activities in the country will bounce back from mid-2021 and helpthe market return to around 5 billion USD.

Meanwhile, investors and researchers have issueddifferent predictions for the market next year, according to a recent survey bythe forum’s research group and the Corporate Investment and M&A Centre.

Twenty-four percent of interviewees projected a 2021market value of 3 billion USD, 42 percent 3-4 billion USD, 26 percent 4-5billion USD, and 8 percent more than 5 billion USD.

Consumer goods, retail, real estate, industry,and agriculture will remain magnets for M&As in 2021. Telecoms, energy,infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and education are also expected to contribute substantiallynow and in the years to come.

Investors from Asian countries, including theRepublic of Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore, are forecast to maintain theirdominance, while private groups will provide momentum for the market’s recoveryin 2021 and subsequent years./.