US fund invests $2m in interior stone company
The US-owned SEAF Blue Waters Growth Fund has provided US$2 million to the Hanoi-based Ha Thanh Binh Industries to finance capacity expansion and buyout shares.
Neither side revealed details of the deal but SEAF's website says such funding usually involves a small equity component in exchange for the risk, with the remaining being a loan at around market rates.
The disbursement will be in three tranches with the first disbursed in March.
HTB and its sister company Vinastone lead the Ha Noi market in interior stone contracting for commercial real estate developments and export processed stone quarried in central Thanh Hoa Province.
The money will enable HTB to increase production capacity through new and expanded facilities and by buying equipment for stone shaping, finishing, and quarrying.
It will also allow the company to buy 33 per cent of Vinastone to take its stake to 67 per cent.
SEAF, a Vietnam-dedicated fund that was founded in 2007, provides long-term financing to small and medium-sized firms.
It targets companies that are unable to obtain bank loans or have a need for capital beyond what banks are willing to provide.
The Washington-headquartered fund has a total of $25 million in committed capital from Norfund (The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries), Finnfund (Finish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd), SIFEM (Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets), and FMO (The Netherlands Development Finance Company).
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