In just the last four months, the Vietnamese real estate market has witnessed a rare “acceleration” of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities. This development not only reflects the increasing heat of capital acquisitions, but also shows a strong restructuring as large corporations begin to adjust their strategies and redistribute their positions in the market.
Nearly $1.2 billion in transactions in just 4 months
In the first half of 2025, real estate M&A was bustling with a series of notable deals such as: Vingroup transferring Hai Dang subdivision, Vinhomes Ocean Park 3 (Hung Yen) to CapitaLand; Huong Viet participating in Nam Rach Chiec (HCMC); Sun Group buying land fund in Cau Giay from CTX Holdings; or Sunshine receiving Alluvia land fund from Xuan Cau.
Despite the presence of many big names, the transaction scale in the first phase of the year was not enough to create a breakthrough. It was not until the third quarter of 2025 and lasting until October that the market really “exploded” with large-scale deals. According to Grant Thornton, the value of real estate M&A in the four months of July-October 2025 reached 484 million USD, 233 million USD, 246 million USD and 225 million USD respectively, totaling 1.188 billion USD.
A series of blockbusters reshape the market
Notably, the above figure does not include the deal considered the biggest of the year: Vingroup transferred more than 150 hectares at Vinhomes Green Paradise (Vinhomes Can Gio) to Capitaland Tower. This project has a total investment of 17,474 billion VND, including land plots for high-rise and low-rise housing, mixed-use buildings and resort hotels.
To finance the deal, Capitaland Tower coordinated with four businesses to raise VND24,000 billion in bonds in just two days, October 13-14: Truong Minh (VND4,500 billion), Hai Dang (VND3,800 billion), Hung Phat Invest (VND7,650 billion), and Thoi Dai Moi T&T (two lots totaling VND8,050 billion). Capitaland Tower is the investor of the Saigon Marina IFC project, which was inaugurated on August 19, 2025, with the participation of Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao – Chairman of Sovico Holdings.
Another big deal came from Vingroup when it transferred almost the entire Vincom Center Nguyen Chi Thanh to Bao Quan Investment Trading and Services Company Limited for 133 million USD. This is a rare transaction related to a shopping mall after Vingroup divested from Vincom Retail. Bao Quan is assessed to have close ties with ROX Group, so it is likely that this group is the unit behind the deal.
Son Kim Land and a series of “strong moves”
Son Kim Land, a member of Son Kim Group, has also been particularly active, successfully raising $200 million from a private credit loan, marking the largest international capital raising deal in the history of the company. Previously, the company had received capital from EXS Capital, ACA Investments, Credit Suisse and Skymont Capital with a total value of hundreds of millions of dollars.
This move took place right before Son Kim Land participated in the auction of 3,790 resettlement apartments in Thu Thiem and especially the acquisition of the Saigon Broadway project (an area of about 10 hectares on Mai Chi Tho axis), which used to belong to Novaland. The project was previously planned to have 12 towers of 25-35 floors with about 3,200 apartments. Currently, Son Kim Land indirectly controls most of the project enterprise through Sun City Company and two related capital-owning legal entities.
A series of large enterprises participated
In the group of “big guys” implementing M&A, there are also: Nam Long (selling 15% of Izumi City project to Japanese partner), Hodeco (transferring the investor of Dai Duong Vung Tau tourist area), DIC Group (selling Lam Ha Center Point project), Vinaconex (selling Cat Ba Amatina to MIK Group), Savico (selling Long Hoa – Can Gio residential area to Gelex Infrastructure), Phat Dat (selling Thien Long Building), Thaco (buying 1.4ha in Giao Luu City Urban Area), SSG (buying 11.92% of Seaprodex to access central land fund).
The biggest surprise is that Novaland, a company that has long focused on selling restructured assets, is now back on the buying track by acquiring 51% of shares in ASCLT1 and ASCLT2 from Amata Long Thanh for a total value of about 46.5 million USD. The list of transactions is still long with deals that have only been announced recently, such as Masterise Group buying high-rise subdivisions at Vinhomes Wonder City and Vinhomes Ocean Park 3 – now becoming Masteri Era Landmark.
Foreign investors accelerate
Along with the excitement of domestic enterprises, foreign investors also accelerated strongly. CapitaLand and Gamuda Land continuously expanded their portfolios, while Keppel left the market.
SkyWorld Development Berhad stood out when it signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase a nearly 1 hectare land plot in Lai Thieu Ward (HCMC) with a preliminary price of VND850 billion to develop a 40-storey apartment building. Previously, the enterprise had purchased Thuan Thanh Company (to own land in District 8) and cooperated with SkyVenue to develop land funds in Binh Duong.
UOA Vietnam, a subsidiary of UOA Group, also made its mark when it spent 68 million USD to buy 100% of VIAS Hong Ngoc Bao JSC to access a prime land plot of 2,000 square meters in District 1 to build an office of about 20,000 square meters.
New trend: Trading floors “jump” into M&A
Not only large corporations, many trading floors such as Dong Tay Land, Khai Hoan Land… also strongly participate in M&A activities, mainly in the form of “wholesale purchases” to enjoy higher profit margins and improve their position as secondary investors.
Another trend is the transaction of social housing projects, a segment that has received attention as the Government has set a target of building 1 million apartments by 2030. Many projects are being offered for sale, such as Thai Duong social housing (HCMC) with a price of about 300 billion VND. Units such as Eco Pearl City or Him Lam are also participating in this wave.
The M&A wave has not cooled down yet
The M&A boom reflects the growth expectations of the real estate market in 2025. As the legal system improves and supply becomes more diversified, many “hunters” quickly take advantage of the opportunity, especially in the context of stable credit and increasing restructuring needs.
For large corporations, project transfers help balance finances, rotate capital and optimize portfolios. This is also a sign that the market is shifting from opportunistic M&A deals to strategic M&A, emphasizing exploitation efficiency instead of just hoarding land funds.
The rise of domestic enterprises in many large deals shows that the Vietnamese real estate market has entered a mature stage, capable of shaping its own game. And at the current pace, real estate M&A is expected to continue to see large-scale deals in the coming time, as the “big guys” are still rearranging their long-term strategies.
