Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund has entered negotiations to invest up to $200m in Vietnam-based payment services provider VNPay as part of a $300m round, DealStreetAsia reported today.
Vision Fund would hypothetically participate alongside Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, which has proposed a $100m investment, according to an industry executive aware of the talks. Another source said the two have expressed interest in a round sized at more than $200m.
Also known as Vietnam Payment Solutions, VNPay provides e-commerce payment tools as well as a digital wallet, a mobile banking app, a bill payment service and an offline payment tool that utilises QR codes.
The round would prospectively value the company at more than $1bn and would represent Vision Fund’s first investment in a Vietnam-based company. Financial services firm UBS is advising on the deal, according to DealStreetAsia.
VNPay has not publicly disclosed details of any earlier funding it has received since being founded in 2007.
