Warburg Pincus leads $250 mln investment in Novaland

Novaland Investment Group Joint Stock Company (HOSE: NVL), a member of NovaGroup, announced the completion of a US$250-million round of funding by a consortium led by Warburg Pincus.

The investment, according to a Novaland official, marks the beginning of a strategic partnership between Novaland and the U.S. fund.

The collaboration will ally Novaland's position in the real estate market with Warburg Pincus' global real estate experience and expertise.

"We are delighted to welcome Warburg Pincus as a strategic partner," Bui Xuan Huy, chairman of Novaland, said.

"Warburg Pincus is one of the world's most established and successful private equity investors, and its sizable investment demonstrates its great belief in Novaland's growth potential."

Warburg Pincus' track record of assisting successful real estate enterprises in Vietnam and Asia would be valuable to Novaland, he added.

The 1000-hectare NovaWorld Phan Thiet project has been developed by Novaland. Photo by Novaland

The money will be used to acquire lands and develop ongoing projects in some important places, leveraging upcoming infrastructure in Vietnam's southern region. Credit Suisse - a global investment bank and financial services company based in Switzerland - acted as the sole financial advisor to Novaland.

Jeffrey Perlman, managing director, head of Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific real estate, Warburg Pincus, said the investment further reinforces his company's long-term commitment to Vietnam with over US$1.5 billion committed to date and continues its track record of backing market leaders in their respective sectors.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to invest in yet another great Vietnamese company and look forward to working with the management teams at NovaGroup and Novaland.

"We believe Novaland will be able to capitalize on the significant market opportunity, and we will use our network, experience and skills to assist Novaland in taking its business to the next level."

The Warburg Pincus financing represents Novaland’s next successful fundraising from international investors in less than a year after the issuance of international convertible bonds listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in July 2021.

Warburg Pincus has made its sixth investment in Vietnam with this deal. Since 2013 it has invested over US$1.5 billion in several of Vietnam's leading businesses, including retail platform Vincom Retail, logistics and industrial developer BW Industrial Development, homegrown integrated hospitality platform Lodgis Hospitality, joint-stock commercial bank Techcombank, and fintech platform MoMo.

Warburg Pincus LLC is a global growth investor with more than US$80 billion in assets under management.

Its active portfolio, which includes more than 245 firms, is exceptionally diverse in terms of stage, industry and region.

Warburg Pincus was founded in 1966 and has 21 private equity and two real estate funds with more than $100 billion in investments in over 1,000 firms in more than 40 countries.

It began investing in Southeast Asia in 2013 and has since committed over $3 billion to the region.

Novaland Group is a reputed real estate developer in Vietnam.

The company has developed more than 50 real estate projects in various segments including apartments, shop houses, officetel 24/24, second homes, and branded villas in the last 30 years.