SHB sells consumer finance unit to Thai lender

The Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank will sell a 50 percent stake in its consumer finance division, SHB Finance, to Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya.

Vietnam’s fifth-largest bank said in a statement it would sell the remaining 50 percent to Bank of Ayudhya after three years.

Bank of Ayudhya said in a stock market filing that the deal is worth VND3.59 trillion ($157.75 million), adding: “The acquisition will enable the bank to capture growth outside of Thailand.”

Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group holds a 76.9 percent stake in the lender, Thailand’s fifth-largest by assets.

After more than three years since inception, SHB Finance has a presence in 46 provinces and cities and almost 300,000 borrowers.

Another private lender, VPBank, sold a 49 percent stake in its consumer finance unit, FE Credit, in April to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Group for $1.4 billion.

Other Vietnamese lenders like VietinBank and MSB are also looking to sell their consumer finance operations.