The owners of golden land in Saigon

VietNamNet Bridge – The plots of land at prime locations in HCM City, dubbed “golden land”, are owned by several big corporations gained through merger and acquisition (M&A) deals or land auctions held by HCM City authorities.

Estate experts said that 2016 will be still a good year for the property sector.

The gravity from golden lands is very powerful. Some big corporations have focused on “collecting” these plots of land in recent years.

Estate experts said that 2016 will be still a good year for the property sector. According to the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the city will held auctions for 23 plot of golden land or two auctions/month on average.

The familiar names

One of the corporations holding valuable land areas in HCM City is Van Thinh Phat Group of businesswoman Truong My Lan.

This group directly and indirectly owns many high-rise buildings located at prime locations such as the Times Square and some building along Nguyen Hue Road.

The acquisition of Vincom Center A with the transfer value of nearly VND10,000 billion, which was then changed the name to Union Square, is said to have connections to Van Thinh Phat.

Recently, after HCM City authorities called for investment in the area near the Bach Dang Wharf, Van Thinh Phat immediately submitted a detail planning for this area.

In mid-2015, the group asked the HCM City government’s approval for its investment project in the quadrilateral area of Ngo Duc Ke - Nguyen Hue - Huynh Thuc Khang - Ho Tung Mau.

If this project is adopted, it will be a large-scale commercial center. But these projects are only several golden land areas in the downtown HCM City, Van Thinh Phat has other projects in the suburbs.

Bitexco Group is another name.

Besides HCM City’s iconic tower - Bitexco, the tallest building in the city - the company has been licensed to invest in a lot of estate projects on prime locations. These include The One, which is opposite the Ben Thanh Market, the land of Saigon Hospital, which is also located near Ben Thanh and Nguyen Cu Trinh quadrilateral area of 600,000 m2.

Most of these projects were licenced in 2007 - 2008, when HCM City first launched the land auction program.

If Bitexco purchased golden land areas through auctions, Novaland owned these plots via merger and acquisition deals. This company constantly acquired golden lands in District 4 and collaborated with the Saigon Beverage Company (Sabeco) to develop an estate project on a golden land on Hai Ba Trung Street.

With abundant financial sources plus experience, Novaland is considered one of the most potential units participating in the upcoming auctions of golden lands in HCM City.

Most recently, Novaland’s subsidiary – Nova Bac Nam 79 – applied to invest in the golden land at 164 Dong Khoi Street, after the withdrawal of foreign investors.

A big corporation from the north - the BRG Corporation of Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga - is also known for impressive acquisitions of golden lands in HCM City.

In 2014, the major shareholder of BRG - Phu Cuong Real Estate - successfully acquired 38.69% stake in Tran Phu Printing Company, a state-owned enterprise with more than 19,200 m2 of land in many central districts of HCM City.

Foreign investors

With huge financial resources, some foreign investors have joined the race to purchase golden land in Saigon, including notable names from Korea.

For example, the "golden triangle" on Nguyen Thai Hoc Road, after three times of being changed hands, now belongs to Jimiro of South Korea. This is one of the most valuable land plots for auction in the city, with an area of 13,110 m2.

Lotte Group of South Korea has replaced its fellowman – Posco - to become the foreign partner in a joint venture that owns Diamond Plaza, with the ownership rate of 70%.

Previously, this group successfully acquired the Legend Hotel on Ton Duc Thang Street.