CBA in $160m sale of stake in Vietnamese bank
The bank is further shaving its overseas exposures, offloading a stake in the Vietnamese lender assembled in 2010.
Commonwealth Bank will book a $160m windfall from its sale of a 5 per cent stake in a Vietnamese commercial lender.
CBA told investors it had completed its sale of its stake in the Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank on Tuesday, via an on-market transaction on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.
The trade is expected to be settled on Thursday.
CBA told investors the deal to sell the stake in Vietnam’s biggest commercial lender would see it book a 3 basis points improvement to its capital levels.
The sale sees CBA further shave its overseas exposures, offloading a stake in the Vietnamese lender assembled in 2010.
CBA purchased a 19.8 per cent stake in VIB, lifted from an initial 15 per cent foray under the bank’s expansion overseas.
The Vietnamese investments came alongside stakes CBA assembled in Chinese lenders Bank of Hangzhou and Qilu Bank.
However, CBA said the sale of its VIB stake was in line with its strategy to focus on its core Australian and New Zealand banking business.
CBA recently offloaded its stake in Indonesian lender PT Bank Commonwealth, ending an investment assembled in 1997.
The bank also booked an $886m windfall in 2020 from the sale of its stake in Chinese financial player BoCommLife Insurance Company.
“CBA believes VIB has further opportunity to grow, and the broadening of its shareholder base will support the bank’s future ambitions,” the bank said.
CBA has also assembled stakes in other companies including broking business Lendi and PEXA.
But CBA has also scaled back its other brands, including moving its Bankwest business to an online only lender.
The Finance Sector Union has taken aim at CBA over job cuts in the wake of its Bankwest move, warning 116 jobs would go nationally.
The FSU said it had also lodged a dispute against CBA on behalf of Bankwest members, warning CBA was seeking to “force an inferior Enterprise Agreement on its loyal Bankwest workers”.
FSU national assistant secretary Jason Hall said CBA was seeking to turn Bankwest into “CBA Lite”.
CBA shares closed down 3.04 per cent or $4.33 to $138.06 ahead of the announcement.
Originally published as CBA in $160m sale of stake in Vietnamese bank
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