Since the beginning of the year, in the recovery and upturn of the real estate market, real estate M&A (buying, selling, transferring) activities have been quite active with the participation of both foreign and domestic investors.
Big Deals
The two most recent high-profile real estate M&A deals that have seen the participation of foreign investors are both from Malaysia. Real estate group United Overseas Australia Ltd (UOA) has just attracted attention when it announced the acquisition of a prime land plot of more than 2,000 square meters in the center of Ho Chi Minh City (old District 1), with a total transfer value of up to 68 million USD, equivalent to about 1,700 billion VND. Accordingly, UOA has completed the acquisition of the entire VIAS Hong Ngoc Bao Joint Stock Company through three wholly owned subsidiaries, including UOA Vietnam Pte Ltd, UTD Vietnam Pte Ltd and UTM Vietnam Pte Ltd. The land is oriented to be developed into a modern office tower with about 20,000 square meters of floor area, with a total estimated investment capital of 120 million USD.
Meanwhile, another giant from Malaysia, SkyWorld, also attracted attention with a sensational deal. Recently, this enterprise signed an agreement to buy a land plot of more than 9,400 square meters in Lai Thieu Ward (HCMC) with a total value of more than 32 million USD. According to the plan, the land plot will be developed into a luxury apartment complex including a 40-storey tower, supplying more than 1,200 apartments to the market, fully integrating commercial and service facilities, showing SkyWorld’s long-term and strong investment strategy in the Southern real estate market.
Another Malaysian giant, Gamuda, has also spent about VND1,000 billion to acquire a land plot of more than 1.1 hectares in Le Chan district (Hai Phong) to develop a high-rise apartment project. The total development investment is estimated at up to USD222 million, equivalent to more than VND5,600 billion. The land plot is located right on Vo Nguyen Giap axis, opposite Aeon Mall Le Chan – one of the largest shopping malls in the city, promising to bring outstanding added value. According to the roadmap, Gamuda plans to open sales of products in the 2026 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2027) and hand them over to customers two years later.
Domestic investors also attracted attention with outstanding M&A deals. After a period of only specializing in resort real estate development, Sun Group returned to the Hanoi market with the Feliza Suites project, with a scale of nearly 1,700 apartments, located on prime land in Cau Giay ward. Previously, at the end of May, CTX Holdings approved the transfer of the entire project located on this land to Sun Group. Meanwhile, Sunshine Group also increased its land fund through M&A deals. At the end of June, Sunshine Group announced that a subsidiary had received a transfer of shares in the investor of the ecological garden urban area in Van Giang (Hung Yen), in order to develop a part of the mega project here. Immediately after that, Sunshine continued to reveal plans to deploy a complex of more than 8,000 apartments, also in Hung Yen.
Real Estate M&A Activities Are Growing Strongly
The Vietnamese real estate market is witnessing a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) returning to life after a period of stagnation. Large-scale deals are constantly emerging, showing that M&A has become an effective channel for capital mobilization, restructuring and strategic expansion for both sellers and buyers.
Ms. Nguyen Le Dung, Head of Investment Advisory Services at Savills Hanoi, commented that the Vietnamese real estate M&A market has been showing clear signs of recovery since the end of last year, thanks to the positive impact of the new Land Law and Real Estate Business Law. According to her, the improved legal framework has created an important step forward in strengthening investor confidence, while paving the way for mergers and acquisitions to take place more smoothly and transparently.
The sales director of an anonymous investor in Ho Chi Minh City said that despite short-term fluctuations, Vietnam is still a market with great potential thanks to its high urbanization rate, young population and rapidly growing middle class. The demand for urban housing is still increasing strongly while the supply is limited, opening up a large space for investment. Compared to many countries in the region, the profit margin from rental and the medium- and long-term price increase margin of Vietnamese real estate are still attractive. This explains why large corporations from Singapore, Korea, Japan or Malaysia are continuously expanding their presence through M&A, instead of following the path of developing projects from scratch, which takes a lot of time and effort.
According to this person, real estate M&A activities in Vietnam will continue to be vibrant in the coming period. The seller has a need to restructure, while the buyer sees this as an opportunity for rapid expansion. As the legal environment becomes increasingly transparent and the market continues to attract foreign capital, large-scale deals will continue. Real estate M&A is developing strongly not only thanks to the motivation from the business side, but also because of the mutual benefits of both sides: the seller can resolve the pressure, the buyer can seize the opportunity. This is the “meeting point” of benefits, helping the Vietnamese real estate market gain more momentum in the recovery and growth journey.
