Masan Group Corporation (HSX: MSN) today announced the completion of a private issuance of 5.5 per cent stake in The CrownX Corporation to a consortium led by Alibaba Group and Baring Private Equity Asia for a total cash consideration of $400 million.

The CrownX is Masan’s integrated consumer retail arm that consolidates its interests in Masan Consumer Holdings and VinCommerce. The transaction implies a pre-money valuation of $6.9 billion for 100 per cent of its equity, an equivalent of $93.5 per share. Masan now owns 80.2 per cent of the company. The signing of this transaction was first announced on May 18, 2021.

As part of Alibaba’s investment, The CrownX will now partner with Lazada to build the company’s digital presence and capabilities and accelerate the offline to online (O2O) market in Vietnam. This strategic partnership will accelerate the transformation of The CrownX into a one-stop shop to serve consumers’ everyday needs, whether offline or online, through its new “Point of Life” stragety.

"Our immediate priority is to modernise Vietnam’s grocery market and develop an unparalleled consumer proposition from assortment to shopping experience,” said Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group. “I strongly believe that this partnership will reduce our learning curve and enable us to reach our endgame more efficiently and effectively”.

At present, the VinMart chain is being renamed to WinMart with some stores already bearing the new brand. Masan Group also scooped up 20 per cent in Phuc Long Heritage, the operator of one of the leading tea and coffee chains in Vietnam. The two sides will jointly develop Phuc Long Kiosks through a network of more than 2,200 VinMart+ stores nationwide to bring fresh and delicious tea and coffee drinks to 100 million Vietnamese consumers.

By Thanh Van