Masan Group recently announced that Bain Capital, a leading private investment firm with approximately $180 billion of assets under management, has agreed to invest into Masan Group at least $200 million in equity capital at a price of VND85,000 per share. The proceeds from the transaction will be used to strengthen the company’s financial position and de-lever its balance sheet. Plus, this marks Bain Capital’s first-ever investment in Vietnam and underscores its confidence in Masan’s ability to realize the immense opportunity to fulfill 100 million Vietnamese consumers’ daily grocery, financial, and other life needs.
Vietnam is known as the fastest consumption growth market in Southeast Asia, with forecasted annual growth of 7.7% between 2022 and 2040, which is underpinned by increasing urbanization and an exploding consumer class with higher disposable income and evolving demands extending beyond basic needs to lifestyle and financial ones. As a leader in the Vietnamese consumer market, Masan has been transforming from a pure branded products company into an integrated consumer-retail platform to consolidate the growth potential across the consumer value chain.
Masan has identified 3 multi-year secular growth trends:
1.) Premiumization and health-led innovations, served by its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, Masan Consumer Holdings;
2.) Transition from unbranded to branded and increasing demand for higher-quality animal protein, provided by Masan MEATLife; and
3.) Shift from general trade (GT) to modern trade (MT), accelerated by its retail platform WinCommerce.
At the center of Masan’s platform is WIN Membership – which is a platform connecting brands and consumers – and it has reached 7 million members and is targeted to reach 10 million members by year-end and 30 million members by 2025. The WIN Membership platform enables Masan to provide more personalized and targeted products and services to better serve Vietnamese consumers and will serve as the critical growth engine for the company’s businesses.
Masan expects the transaction to close by end of this year and continues to explore other strategic alternatives for equity capital, including diluting its interest in non-core businesses, to bolster its liquidity profile and achieve a sustainable Net Debt to EBITDA ratio below 3.5x on a steady-state basis.
Masan is also in discussion with other investors to upsize the investments to up to $500 million which is subject to prevailing market conditions and the company’s capital needs.
KEY QUOTES:
“In the face of a challenging consumer environment, Masan has continued to invest in our platform and breakthrough innovations to position ourselves for the consumer upswing. We aim to be a profitable multiplier on Vietnam’s golden consumption era. Bain Capital’s partnership is a strong validation of all the consumer-centric investments and transformation we have made over the past 18 months to win 80% of the consumer wallet. We look forward to working with Bain to accelerate our vision to be the one-stop shop for consumer daily needs.”
— Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group
“We are thrilled to partner with Masan for an important investment in Vietnam and believe that Masan has the right fundamentals, reach, and growth strategy to succeed in a high-growth and compelling consumer market. Masan is one of the most trusted brands in Vietnam with significant reach to households with the ability to anticipate consumer tastes and build out an innovative product pipeline to meet those needs. We see a significant opportunity to invest behind Masan’s continued growth and first-class management team.”
— Barnaby Lyons, a Partner at Bain Capital
