Global private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP has agreed to buy 10 percent of Vietnam's Masan Consumer Corp for $159 million, valuing the company at $1.6 billion, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday. KKR's investment is the largest-ever private equity deal in Vietnam, and comes as increasing competition for assets pushes private equity firms into wider frontier markets around Asia-Pacific. "This investment demonstrates our strong conviction in the business prospects of Masan Consumer, as well as in Vietnam as a whole," said Ming Lu of KKR. The deal comes just a couple of months after U.S. private equity firm Mount Kellet Capital Management invested $100 million in Masan Group's mining unit, Masan Resources.
Source
