SK Doubles Down on Masan’s Point of Life Strategy; SK and Masan Purchase USD345 Million Stake in The CrownX
Ho Chi Minh City, 11 November 2021 – Masan Group Corporation (HOSE: MSN, “Masan”) and SK Group today announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire secondary shares of The CrownX (“TCX”) for a total cash consideration of USD345 million, of which USD340 million will be from SK Group (the “Transaction”). Post the completion of the transaction, Masan will own 85.0% and SK will own 4.9% in The CrownX, with Masan potentially increasing its stake in TCX further in the near future.
After successfully turning around WinCommerce (“WCM”) and delivering its first profitable quarter in 3Q2021, Masan will shift its priority towards scaling up TCX’s mini-mall, “Point of Life” (“POL”) concept – a combination of WinMart+ (grocery), Phuc Long Kiosk (coffee and tea), Pharmacy, Techcombank and Mobicast Joint Stock Company (“Mobicast”), a startup mobile virtual network operator (“MVNO”) transaction point into an integrated loyalty offering.
The initial pilot of the mini-mall has already yielded results as demonstrated by higher foot traffic and profitability. Management is setting a medium-term game plan to re-expand the network nationwide, while maintaining profitability with the following key performance indicators:
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Drive the private label portfolio to comprise 20-25% of modern retail sales;
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Grow online grocery to comprise more than 5% of total revenue or 50,000 orders per day;
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Partner with 2,000-3,000 of Masan Consumer Holdings’ GT retailers for WCM franchisees model; and
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Develop a loyalty program and payments system via mobile wallets to drive consumer lifetime value and maintain a lean cost of consumer acquisition model.
Mr. Danny Le, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Masan Group, said “SK’s investment is a validation of our “mini-mall” concept as a winning nationwide model that will bring more value to consumers’ daily lives. The next quantum leap for our platform is driving our loyalty platform and digitalizing our offering from products to services to win consumer mindshare whether off or online.”
Mr. Woncheol Park, Representative Director of SK South East Asia Investment, said “We stand fully behind Masan Group. We believe its growth strategy to rollout its “mini-mall” concept and to build a consumer platform will reap a tremendous outcome for everyone involved.”
The Transaction is subject to customary corporate approvals and Masan aims to close out its capital raising round of USD200 to 300 million for TCX by the end of the year. Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited acted as exclusive financial advisor to Masan Group.
MASAN GROUP CORPORATION
Masan Group Corporation (“Masan” or the “Company”) believes in doing well by doing good. The Company’s mission is to provide better products and services to the 100 million people of Vietnam, so that they can pay less for their daily essentials. Masan aims to achieve this by driving productivity with technological innovations, trusted brands, and focusing on fewer but bigger opportunities that impact the most lives.
Masan Group’s member companies and associates are industry leaders in branded fast moving consumer goods, branded meat, modern retail, F&B retail, financial services, telecommunications, and value-add chemical processing, altogether representing segments of Vietnam’s economy that are experiencing the most transformational growth.
SK GROUP
SK Group is one of the largest corporate groups in South Korea, with businesses across energy, chemicals, telecommunications, semiconductors, logistics and service sectors. SK Group operates globally across over 40 countries and had a consolidated revenue of USD86 billion as of year-end 2019.
CONTACTS:
Investors/Analysts
Tanveer Gill
T: +84 28 6256 3862
Media
Van Pham
T: +84 90 9216 292
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Masan’s expectations, intentions or strategies that may involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements, including Masan’s expectations, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond Masan’s control, which may cause Masan’s actual results of operations, financial condition, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions, future events or promises of future performance.