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
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[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.
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