One member of the World Bank Group has agreed to guarantee a USD150-million loan from the Hong Kong-based JPMorgan Bank for Vietnamese Masan Group.
Masan Group becomes the first private company in Southeast Asia to get support from MIGA
The guarantee has made Masan Group the first private company in Southeast Asia to get support from Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), one among five members of the World Bank Group to date.
This is also the biggest guaranteed corporate loan that MIGA has provided for private sector in the world, and the second time JP Morgan has lent to Masan after the first loan of USD108 million two years ago.
This time, Masan will borrow USD175 million from the bank, of which USD150 million will be guaranteed by MIGA.
Masan said it would use the three-year loan to pay off its USD108-million current debt and pump the rest in Masan Consumer’s business expansion.
With the MIGA’s support, Masan will benefit from an interest rate of 7.5% per year instead of the rate of 12% applied to their current debt.
In Vietnam, in addition to Masan, six other projects have received MIGA guarantees with a combined value of USD345 million. Three other projects are under consideration including Nghi Son oil refinery, the Hanoi-Haiphong Expressway and National Highway 20 expansion.
Masan’s project is in line with the WB’s strategy aimed at supporting development in private sector via loans guaranteed by MIGA and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
As of December 31 last year, Masan’s products have been sold at 176,000 sale points across Vietnam.
