SCB X Plc, Thailand’s biggest bank by market value, is close to an agreement to buy the Vietnamese business of the consumer lender Home Credit in Vietnam in a deal that could be worth as much as US $900 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The SET-listed holding company of Siam Commercial Bank has emerged as the most likely buyer after outbidding rivals, the people said. The potential deal, which values Home Credit Vietnam at $800 million to $900 million, is expected to be announced as early as this week, the people said, asking not to be named as the process is private.
Deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty that a deal will proceed, the people said.
Representatives from Home Credit’s owner PPF Group NV and SCB X did not respond to requests for comment.
Home Credit began the sale process last year, also attracting interest from Thailand’s Kasikornbank and KB Kookmin Bank, a unit of South Korea’s KB Financial Group, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
Home Credit is streamlining its operations as PPF — controlled by the family of the late Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s — shifts investment focus back to Europe. The company has been reviewing its businesses in Asia after cancelling a $1.5 billion-Hong Kong initial public offering in 2019.
The lender previously sold its units in Indonesia and the Philippines to Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya.
Founded in 1997, Home Credit has operations in several countries across Asia, central and eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. PPF is a holding company with interests in finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and biotechnology. Kellner was 56 when he died in a helicopter crash in 2021.