Citi takes strategic stake in Vietnamese broker

Citigroup has acquired a 9.9% stake in Vietnam's Horizon Securities, subject to regulatory approval, becoming one of the first foreign financial institutions to partner with a local firm to bolster its market position.
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Citigroup has acquired a 9.9% stake in Vietnam’s Horizon Securities, subject to regulatory approval, becoming one of the first foreign financial institutions to partner with a local firm to bolster its market position.

Founded in 2006, Horizon Securities is a privately-held Vietnamese firm headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City that provides brokerage and corporate finance services. Horizon operates as a subsidiary of Horizon Capital Group.

Rodrigo Zorrilla, head of markets, Asia Pacific at Citi, said, “Our expansion in Vietnam is consistent with our broader goal of growing our franchise in the ASEAN market. We will continue to invest in our markets business to help our regional and global clients who are increasingly looking to invest in Asian equities given the region’s growth prospects.”

In the last three years, Citi Asia Pacific has generated nearly US$45 billion of revenues and US$15 billion in net income.

“Our new partnership with Citigroup will further strengthen Horizon Securities’ client distribution and global reach by ensuring international best practices in deal execution,” said Kham Manh Doan, chairman of Horizon Capital Group.

“This investment will help us become a leader in the secondary market and allow us to increase our market share of institutional investor equity flows as the Vietnamese market resumes strong growth and depth of liquidity,” added Brett Krause, Citi's country officer for Vietnam.

Citi provides full equity coverage in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, and opened a research office in the Philippines in third quarter last year.

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