JB Financial acquires a brokerage in Vietnam

JB Financial Group bought a Vietnamese securities company for 19.5 billion won ($16.6 million) in a bid to increase its presence in the fast-growing Southeast Asian region.

The financial group, with its focus in Jeolla, said on Monday that it has signed a sales-purchase agreement to buy 100 percent of MSGS from Morgan Stanley.

Founded in 2016, MSGS is a mid-sized brokerage in Vietnam with 15 billion won in capital.

The deal, JB Financial said, is intended to strengthen its business in the region.

“The acquisition will allow JB Financial to run consumer finance and brokerage services in overseas markets,” the company said in a statement.

Group chairman Kim Ki-hong said that the takeover could help offset tough business conditions in the home market.

“As the competition in Korea’s financial industry intensifies with tepid growth,” Kim said, “we came to acquire a Vietnamese brokerage to diversify our revenue stream and make it a new growth engine.”

In 2016, the group bought PPC Bank Cambodia through its subsidiary Jeonbuk Bank. JB Woori Capital, a consumer finance company, opened an incorporated unit in Myanmar the same year.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]