British financial services group Prudential has signed an agreement to sell 100% of its Vietnamese consumer finance business, Prudential Vietnam Finance Company (PVFC), to Shinhan Card Co, in a deal valued at $151m.
Launched in 2006, PVFC started operations as the first foreign, non-bank financial institution licensed for consumer finance lending in Vietnam. Currently, it is the fourth largest consumer finance company by outstanding loan balance in the country.
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Prudential Asia CEO Nic Nicandrou said: “PVFC is a high-quality business but is not core to our strategy in Vietnam. We are delighted that Shinhan will be able to lead this consumer finance business through to the next stage of its development. Vietnam remains an attractive and important market to Prudential where we have high quality and fast-growing life insurance and asset management operations.
As part of the agreement, Prudential also signed a new long-term bancassurance partnership with Shinhan in both Vietnam and Indonesia.
Shinhan Card is a subsidiary of the Shinhan Financial Group, a leading Korean financial institution.
Prudential added that it will remain fully committed to the Vietnamese market through its life insurance business, Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited, and asset management business, Eastspring Investments Fund Management Company (Vietnam).
