From 'prey', many Vietnamese businesses become 'hunters' acquiring foreign companies

Vietnam Report has just officially announced the ALPHA30 ranking (top 30 strategic investment groups in Vietnam in 2025) today, August 21. Among them are "big names" in the market such as FPT, The Pan Group, Sovico Group, Viettel, Masan Group, Gemadept, SNP, Mobile World, Vingroup, SSI...

On this occasion, the team of experts of Vietnam Report also provides many important data showing the clear transformation of Vietnam's economy , through key enterprises.

Enter the race for quality instead of relying on cheap labor

" Vietnam's economy is facing a historic turning point. The growth drivers that have created miracles in recent decades are gradually reaching their limits, while the aspiration for a developed, high-income country requires us to find new energy sources and new growth engines," said Vietnam Report.

Productivity challenges, fierce regional competition and the need to move up the value chain require Vietnam to seek new, higher quality, more sustainable and more self-reliant growth drivers.

This requires the rise of "leading cranes" which are large, powerful private economic groups, capable of absorbing high-quality FDI capital flows, capable of creating flexible enough ecosystems. From there, they can withstand shocks and have the stature to negotiate fairly in the international arena, becoming the party capable of leading an entire value chain instead of just a link.

The Government's continued role as a catalyst through strategic policies such as Resolution 68 on private economic development and orientation towards the formation of an international financial center has become an important foundation to encourage the growth of domestic corporations, creating conditions for the emergence of strategic investment models.

Acquisition of foreign enterprises

Previously, Vietnam was mainly a target market. Currently, many of our country's "leading cranes" have begun their journey to the open sea, acquiring foreign companies to access international markets and technology.

Notably, Sovico acquired 51% of Qazaq Air (Kazakhstan), aiming to export Vietjet's successful low-cost airline business model, turning the region into a new hub of operations.

In the context of Vietnam’s new strategic investment, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have made a breakthrough in nature. They are no longer opportunistic deals aimed at quickly acquiring an asset, but rather strategic tools to build and perfect complex ecosystems.

This trend is increasingly evident in knowledge-intensive sectors. The goal is to own valuable intangible assets: highly specialized engineering teams, exclusive patents, or efficient technology platforms.

Typically, FPT acquired Cardinal Peak Technology Company (USA) to immediately own a team of engineers with deep expertise in product engineering and a strategic customer base in North America. The deal with NAC (Japan) to have a team of experts in management and customer care.

Large Vietnamese corporations are also using M&A as a tool to build integrated business models, instead of relying on external partners. For example, T&T Group acquired Vietravel Airlines, thereby perfectly connecting with other assets such as Quang Tri airport, SuperPort Vinh Phuc dry port and Quang Ninh seaport.

Despite many remarkable advances, Vietnam Report believes that the generation of "leading cranes" needs synchronous action from both the Government and businesses. This includes perfecting the legal framework for the group model (Holding Law), simplifying and accelerating the M&A appraisal process, promoting ESG (environmental - social - corporate governance) standards and transparent reporting.

To maintain leadership and create sustainable value, business leaders need to build organizational resilience as a core competency, invest in leadership and succession, and view digital transformation and ESG as investments, not costs.