South Korean banking firm JB Financial Group Co Ltd has completed an acquisition of a Vietnam-based brokerage previously owned by global investment bank Morgan Stanley, as part of its effort to make inroads into the Southeast Asian region.

JB Financial Group on Wednesday said it paid 19.9 billion won ($16 million) for a 100 per cent stake in Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities JSC (MSGS), a midsized brokerage headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Founded in 2006, the firm posted some 300 billion dong ($13 million) as capital on operations as of last year.

“The M&A [merger and acquisition] completed successfully considering our payment was merely 1.05 times higher than MSGS’ equity capital which came to 18.9 billion won,” said a JB Financial official.

As the new brokerage has become a subsidiary of JB Kwangju Bank based in South Jeolla Province, the financial group’s subsidiaries including grandson companies now increased to seven.

Upon the takeover, JB Financial became South Korea’s first financial group outside of Seoul that incorporates banking, capital, and securities in its overseas financial network, raising expectations over an increase in non-banking revenue.

The acquisition is expected to strengthen the group’s business foothold in the Southeast Asian region.

In 2016, the bank acquired Phnom Penh Commercial Bank Plc of Cambodia through its subsidiary Jeonbuk Bank in North Jeolla province and established JB Capital’s overseas branch in Myanmar.

Through its newly acquired firm, JB Financial will also provide domestic investors with investment strategies regarding real estate and infrastructure development in Vietnam.

The group also plans to provide the Vietnamese companies with services like arranging corporate bond issuance or M&As.

Meanwhile, the latest acquisition process was scheduled to be done in January in line with a stock purchase deal between JB Financial and Morgan Stanley made in December, but it was delayed for some three months as the Vietnamese government

blocked the entry of foreigners to combat the coronavirus outbreak, making it hard for JB officials to visit the local brokerage firm and proceed residual payment for the acquisition.

THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEW NETWORK