The Business Times
business-time-50
Asean Business logo
SPONSORED BYUOB logo
SUBSCRIBERS

Money banked, promises broken: The unsavoury side of Vietnam’s PE and VC dealmaking

High-profile disputes worry investors, who often bear the bulk of financial losses and face lengthy investigations and legal battles

Summarise
google-preferred-sourceAdd BT as a preferred source
Jamille Tran

Jamille Tran

Published Mon, Jul 21, 2025 · 07:00 AM
    • Observers say disputes after deal closure between investors and Vietnamese target firms are fairly common, especially in private equity and venture capital circles; legal experts cite mismatched expectations and poor mutual understanding as key sources of friction.
    • Observers say disputes after deal closure between investors and Vietnamese target firms are fairly common, especially in private equity and venture capital circles; legal experts cite mismatched expectations and poor mutual understanding as key sources of friction. PHOTO: AFP

    [HO CHI MINH CITY] A planned stake sale by shareholders of EQuest Education, one of Vietnam’s biggest private education groups, is facing setbacks after a school acquisition in Hanoi collapsed, in a case highlighting the broader risks of doing business in the country’s fast-growing, but often unpredictable, business sector.

    KKR, the largest shareholder with a 54.8 per cent stake in EQuest, held through its Singapore-based vehicle Equinox II, invested more than US$200 million into the Vietnamese group in two funding rounds in 2021 and 2023.

    The private equity (PE) juggernaut and other shareholders of EQuest were eyeing a stake sale this year, in hopes of raising funds and paving the way for KKR’s exit four to five years after its investment in EQuest, sources familiar with the matter told The Business Times. 

    AseanAsia-PacificAsean BusinessVietnam

    TRENDING NOW

    As household size is hardly growing, is there a need to build super-large landed homes?

    Think twice about rebuilding that old landed property into a super-big house to max out GFA

    Trading under the symbol SPCX, SpaceX has picked a handful of brokerage firms to distribute shares in the IPO to retail customers in the US.

    SpaceX’s US$1.75 trillion IPO: How retail investors, including those in Singapore, can buy shares

    The departure of food manufacturing operations from Singapore may not necessarily be reason for concern.

    Yeo’s, Tiger Beer and now Gardenia – flight of food manufacturing from Singapore might be just as planned

    Source of wealth establishment processes are typically the most time-intensive elements in onboarding ultra-high-net-worth clients.

    Battle for Asia’s ultra-rich: ‘Singapore can’t afford to keep losing clients to Dubai, Hong Kong’

    Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
    Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
    View More