SK Group invests $340 million in Crown X, a Vietnam based consumer retail platform

South Korea’s SK Group will buy a 4.9 percent stake in The CrownX for $345 million, while Masan Consumer will increase its stake by 0.1 percentage point.

It will be the first direct investment by SK Group in The CrownX, which is owned by WinCommerce, the operator of WinMart, and packaged food producer Masan.

SK Group had invested $410 to buy 16.26 percent of WinCommerce in in April this year.

Masan will increase its holding in The Crownx to 85 percent after the deal.

According to local media, the company aims to close out its fund raising round worth $200-300 million by the end of the year, and potentially increase its own stake in the near future.

The company plans to shift its priority toward scaling up The CrownX’s ‘mini-mall’ concept, a combination of WinMart+ (grocery), Phuc Long Kiosk (coffee and tea), pharmacy, Techcombank, and a transaction point for Mobicast (a startup mobile virtual network operator).

It also wants to increase online grocery sales to more than 5 percent of total revenues and 50,000 orders a day.

“The investment of SK Group is a validation that our mini-mall concept, a winning nationwide model, will bring more value to consumers’ daily lives,” Masan CEO Danny Le said.

SK Group is one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea with businesses across energy, chemicals, telecommunications, semiconductors, logistics, and services, VNExpress’s Dat Nguyen reported.

Crown X is a subsidiary of Masan Group and owns Masan Consumer Holdings, a food and beverage company, as well as retailer WinCommerce. Masan Consumer Holdings produces products such as sauces, instant ramen and ready-to-eat meals.