Event Description

After a decade of robust growth (2008-2018) underpinned by thousands of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals valued at approximately $50 billion, the Vietnamese M&A market has entered into a new era with multiple opportunities. To accelerate development, enormous efforts as well as strong commitment would be required from the Vietnamese government and related stakeholders to constantly improve the local investment and business climate and unblock the domestic and outside capital channels.
With the theme of “Going for breakthrough”, Vietnam M&A Forum 2019, the biggest annual event of M&A and investment networking in Vietnam that is jointly held by Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) Group and AVM Vietnam under the patronage of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, will delve into the opportunities and challenges, as well as discuss the factors primed to change to create a breakthrough in M&A activities in 2019 and the years beyond.

AmCham Member will get 10% discount on ticket price. Please follow the below instructions for registration: 

1. Register at link  https://bigtime.vn/vietnam-ma-forum-2019-4023   

      With code” AMCHAM” it will automatically discount for AmCham members.

 

2. 1. Sign this Registration form then send to Ms. Tram at [email protected]

    2. Make payment under guidance in Registration form.

         Content” M&A Forum 2019“, Fee after discount: 3,960,000 VND.

    3. Ticket will be sent online by Ms. Tram.

3. 1. Sign this Registration form then send to Ms. Tram at  [email protected]

    2. Make payment at the forum.

Agenda

13:00 – 13:30 Registration
13:30 – 14:30 OPENING SESSION AND DEAL AWARDS CEREMONY

  • Welcoming speech by the Organising Board of Vietnam M&A Forum 2019;
  • Welcoming speech by a representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment;
  • Awards ceremony for the best deals and best advisors of the year.
14:30 – 16:00 SESSION 1: GOING FOR BREAKTHROUGH
Overview of the M&A market 2018-2019
After nearly a decade of robust growth (2008-2018) with M&A deals valuing at a grand total of $50 billion, the Vietnamese M&A market has stepped into a new era of new opportunities. What changes does the Vietnamese government and authorised agencies need to make to create a breakthrough in M&A? How do investors and businesses need to react in the face of upcoming changes?

  • The recent new policies such as the drafts proposing amendments and supplementations to several important laws (the Law on Investment, Law on Enterprises, and Law on Securities) and the draft resolution on attracting new-generation foreign investment are expected to change the focus of attracting foreign investment to Vietnam, including investment flows through the M&A format. Will these factors lay down the groundwork and inspire the government to enact M&A-related regulations in a more open manner to stay on par with international conventions?
  • Will the Vietnamese government be more committed to removing legal barriers and relaxing policies to support M&A activities, such as loosening the foreign ownership limit (FOL); downsizing the number of conditional business sectors; or tackling FOL-related issues at public companies, including enterprises operating in conditional business sectors?
  • Will Vietnam be working towards designing a specific regulatory framework for M&A deals as related regulations are scattered across diverse legal documents (from the Law on Investment, Law on Enterprises, Law on Securities, and Law on Competition to specialised laws regulating M&A transactions across the board) with contents frequently overlapping?
  • M&A activities in some areas have been impeded by policy barriers. For instance in real estate, the regulations to stop licensing projects in the central business districts of Ho Chi Minh City and the projects related to public land have brought project execution to a standstill, while in the banking sector, the current FOL requirements and other strict requirements (foreign strategic investors must have a total asset value surpassing $10 billion and profitable business in the latest five years) have blunted banks’ appeal for foreign investors. What options are there to remove these bottlenecks?
  • How should Vietnam improve the local business climate (tax, customs, licensing, intellectual property protection, applying international practices in corporate governance, etc.) to attract more M&A capital flows from professional investors?

What new policy incentives can be presented to facilitate M&A in the fields that require motivation for development such as high-tech industries, high-tech agriculture, renewable energy, and smart infrastructure? Additionally, what incentives need to be made available to facilitate special M&A deals where local firms buy into foreign partners (particularly cross-border transactions) to expand globally, or to facilitate the emergence of unicorn startups which can team up with global groups to grow more powerful?
16:00 – 16:30 FOCUS: M&A OPPORTUNITIES FROM STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE (SOE) EQUITISATION AND STATE CAPITAL DIVESTMENT
Hundreds of Vietnamese SOEs set for equitisation or state capital divestment worth billions of US dollars are proving tempting targets for domestic and foreign investors. The charm, however, depends on the pace of SOE equitisation and state capital divestment to attract high-profile and professional foreign investors.

  • To accelerate market development, the presence of landmark M&A deals such as the cases of Sabeco, Vinamilk, and Vinaconex is crucial to attract foreign capital. But how can the country push up SOE equitisation, state capital divestment, and the loosening of the FOL to attract global players to the Vietnamese M&A scene?
  • What differences could the establishment of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) bring to the SOE equitisation and state capital divestment cause? What specific opportunities come from businesses under the management of CMSC in 2019-2020?
  • Compared to previous years, the government’s SOE equitisation and state divestment efforts now focus on selling sizeable stakes in major companies. Will international practices on stake sales or divestment methods (like book building) be applied to attract investors?
  • Domestic and foreign strategic investors looking to partake in stake purchases in Vietnam have been facing limitations from policies, such as those only allowing investors to buy minority stakes or those stopping them from engaging in corporate governance, while strategic partners are required to contribute a great many resources to the M&A process, but face restrictions on stock transfer. How can these limitations be tackled?
16:30 – 17:00 NETWORKING BREAK
17:00 – 18:30 SESSION 2: BRAND ISSUE IN M&A ACTIVITIES
Some brands took flight post-M&A, while some sank into oblivion or were closed down by the acquiror. Session 2 will focus on the successes and failures of some brands in the post-M&A process, brand protection and development, as well as brand valuation in M&A transactions, among others.

  • How to protect and develop Vietnamese brands via cross-border M&A activities in the face of foreign businesses arriving en masse to Vietnam?
  • The issue of brand valuation in M&A. Is the brand valued too high or low? How to find the proper valuation to avoid causing losses to Vietnamese SOEs and the state in M&A transactions and SOE equitisation?
  • What is the role of advisory firms in brand and IP protection and valuation in M&A deals?
  • What matters should the buyer and the seller pay attention to in branding when it comes to M&A negotiations and transactions?
  • Should Vietnam establish the Brand Foundation to provide financial support for brand development?
18:30 – 21:00 NETWORKING DINNER

(The detailed schedule may be subjected to change and updated during the event)

Costs

  • Standard fee: VND4,000,000 per ticket (VAT exc/.). The fee include participation in the confernece, the awarding ceremony to honour the best deals and advisory firms and the networking gala dinner; refreshments, and all conference documents.
  • Special fee: Participants registering before July 6, 2019 or registering in group of three are entitled for a 25 per cent discount at VND3,000,000 per ticket and those registering to attend the Master Class on M&A are eligible for a 50 per cent discount (VND2,000,000 per ticket)
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Speakers

Dr. Pellegrino is an international attorney licensed to practice law in both the EU (Italy) and the USA (New York). He is a senior associate lawyer at Frasers Law Company, a top tier law firm in Vietnam, focusing primarily on infrastructure, energy and cross-border M&A transactions.Since 2016 Dr. Pellegrino is also responsible for the M&A Chapter of the WhiteBook, being the most prestigious publication of EuroCham, providing the guidelines for discussion of sensitive advocacy issues with top-ranking government officials and relevant Vietnamese ministries.
post-dien-gia02 Ben Gray is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; an RICS registered valuer and assessor and a CFA level 1 candidate. He specializes in several different areas, including cross-border capital origination and placement into Vietnam, localized debt and equity, capital raising & placement, complex deal structuring, mergers & acquisitions, and Private Placements. Since 2014, Ben has successfully closed over USD 110 million of direct property sales.
post-dien-gia03 Warrick is the Managing Partner of KPMG’s Tax practice in Vietnam, and Chairman and CEO of KPMG in Vietnam and Cambodia. He has been a Tax advisor in Vietnam for over 20 years, and is recognised as one of Vietnam’s leading tax professionals. He began his tax advisory career upon graduation in 1992 and moved to Vietnam 1998. He has extensive knowledge and experience in Vietnam of taxation advisory and compliance, tax dispute resolution, corporate governance and structuring issues, and has advised on numerous corporate transactions in Vietnam and Cambodia.
post-dien-gia04

Ms Duyen is recommended as a Leading Lawyer in Vietnam by IFLR1000 and Legal 500 in M&A Practice, and as a Market-Leading Lawyer by Asialaw in the Finance Practice.  She is licensed to practice laws in Vietnam and New York.

She is active in advising the Energy, Infrastructure, Finance, Capital Markets and Fintech sectors.
post-dien-gia05 Born in the UK, Dominic graduated from Exeter University with a degree in Law and Sociology, then worked in financial markets in London and Hong Kong. He studied at Hanoi General University for two years, then founded Dragon Capital in 1994. Fluent in Vietnamese, Dominic actively promotes financial market development and governance, and is a director of various Vietnamese public companies.
post-dien-gia06 Mr Majima was born in 1965 and graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1988 and INSEAD in France in 1993. Prior to joining RECOF Corporation in 1998, Majima worked for Yamaichi Securities Co., Ltd. for 10 years, during which he started as securities analyst and then engaged in capital markets financing of non-Japanese public and private entities.
post-dien-gia07 Mr. Andrew D. Kim is a manager at the Global M&A Center of KOTRA, which is an investment promotion agency of Korea, supporting Korean corporates’ cross-border investments. He provides a tailored advice to Korean strategic and financial investors based on their goals and needs for M&A transactions. Mr. Kim also focuses on building Joint Ventures and business alliances by matching Korean corporates with corresponding foreign strategic investors.
post-dien-gia091 Mr. Dennis Ng Teck Yow has been the Deputy General Director of Gamudaland Vietnam since 2016, having more than 25 years of vast spectrum of corporate and business development experience predominantly in new overseas investment setups, project developments, project financing, accounting, taxation, commercial, legal, business process re-engineering, cross border transactions and land matters.
post-dien-gia10 Stephen Wyatt is Country Head of JLL Vietnam and is responsible for overall operations of the Company.
Stephen worked in London, UK for 11 years from 1996 to 2007 with Cushman & Wakefield and Knight Frank. In 2004, Stephen was promoted to Partner with Knight Frank. In 2007, Stephen moved to manage the Knight Frank business in Botswana, Africa. In June 2010 – August 2013, he was appointed as Managing Director of Knight Frank, Vietnam.
post-dien-gia12 For the past twenty one years Dr Mai Huu Tin has been Chairman and CEO of U&I Investment Corporation (Unigroup) which he founded, currently with more than 50 subsidiaries and affiliates that employ altogether more than 20,000 people. He is currently a member of the Private Sector Development Committee appointed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Vice President of Vietnam Youth Federation; President of World Vovinam (Vietnamese Martial Arts) Federation; Chair of the Vietnam Chapter of Eisenhower Fellowships, and Chairman of Binhduong Province Business Federation;
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