VPBank acquires 97.42 per cent of ASC Securities

VPBank’s board of directors has just authorised the bank’s investment in ASC Securities to purchase almost 26.2 million shares, equivalent to 97.42 per cent of the securities firm’s total capital.

Additional registrations for securities brokerage, securities trading, underwriting, and depositary activities have been made since the bank’s extraordinary shareholders meeting in October.

Thanks to the fresh agreement, VPBank has shown that it is ready to tie the knot with a foreign strategic partner after the bank's initiatives to raise its foreign ownership ratio from 15 to 17.5 per cent.

Prior to that, ASC Securities was rumoured to join forces with VPBank’s ecosystem as the securities firm relocated its headquarter from Ho Chi Minh City to the VPBank Tower in Hanoi.

ASC Securities made its debut years ago but performed inefficiently. The firm ceased trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in 2016 and has been providing securities investment and corporate financial advice exclusively since 2017. It no longer acts as a stockbroker.

VPBank previously sold its securities company VPS in 2015, but at an investor conference in early November, the bank's executives revealed its intention to acquire or launch another securities company to broaden the bank's ecosystem.