The “hotness” of the building lies not only in its prime location, but also in the value that has changed hands through generations of owners, from just over a trillion dong to billions of dollars in just a few years.
The billion-dollar building is being mortgaged at four foreign banks.
At the trial of the Vạn Thịnh Phát case on the afternoon of March 12, Ms. Lan mentioned that her daughter was selling a building in Hanoi worth 1 billion dollars to remedy the consequences.
However, by the trial on March 15, the judge announced that he had received a letter from Mrs. Lan’s daughter, Chu Diệp Phấn, stating that someone was offering to pay 360 million dollars instead of 1 billion dollars. At the same time, this building is mortgaged for a loan of 230 million dollars from 4 foreign banks, so after the sale, the banks will be repaid and the remaining amount will be used to remedy the consequences of the case. Defendant Trương Mỹ Lan stated, “Someone has offered to buy the building for 400-500 million dollars.”
 Defendant Trương Mỹ Lan at a trial – Photo: Lao Động
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The “billion-dollar” building in Hanoi that Mrs. Lan mentioned is none other than the office building at 29 Liễu Giai Street, Ngọc Khánh Ward, Ba Đình District, Hanoi – Capital Place. The skyscraper is located right on the arterial road of Liễu Gai – Kim Mã – Nguyễn Chí Thanh. With a scale of 100,000 m2 of office and commercial floor space, 32 high-speed elevators, and the largest column-free office floor in Vietnam, it is the first LEED Gold certified office building in Hanoi (an international standard for green architecture).
Image of Capital Place posted as of March 14, 2023 – Photo: Capital Place
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Which owners has the project gone through?
On March 11, 2019, Hanoi People’s Committee issued a decision allowing the Investment Consultancy and Vietnam Investment Corporation to transfer part of the project to Twin-Peaks Corporation. The transferred part of the project is none other than the office building mentioned above, with a total investment of over 1,221 billion dong at the time of transfer.
Twin-Peaks Corporation was established on November 28, 2018, with its address at 29 Liễu Giai, engaged in the business of real estate, land use rights belonging to owners, users or tenants. Twin-Peaks has an initial charter capital of nearly 2,113 billion dong. In which, the Business Investment and Urban Development Co., Ltd (based in Hanoi) holds 98% of the capital, including 65.1% common shares and 32.8% preferential shares; the remaining 1.5% and 0.5% respectively belong to two individuals – Hoàng Thị Lan Anh and Nguyễn Hoàng Anh (General Director and legal representative).
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An Cư Company, established in June 2016, has Ms. Nguyễn Thị Oanh as the General Director. The company has a charter capital of 300 billion dong, contributed by two individuals living in Hanoi, Nguyễn Phi Long (70%) and Nguyễn Khắc Đát (30%). |
In the following years, the position of Twin-Peaks’ General Director and legal representative was continuously changed between individuals from Singapore and Malaysia, including Mr. Lim Teng-Kiat (Singapore) on May 14, 2019, Mr. Patrick Liau Kong Voon (Malaysia) on February 21, 2020, Mr. Lim Boon Hwee (Singapore) on January 13, 2022, Mr. Ong Khing Wee (Malaysia) on August 24, 2022, Mr. Yoong Voon Sin (Singapore) on November 11, 2022, Mr. Chong Kah Fu (Malaysia) on January 13, 2023.
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Mr. Lim Teng-Kiat is the representative of CapitaLand in the Northern region of Vietnam; Mr. Patrick Liau Kong Voon is the CEO of CapitaLand Malaysia, the Northern Vietnam General Director of CapitaLand Development (CLD); Mr. Lim Boon Hwee (also known as Eddie Lim) is the legal representative and CEO of Viva Land Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (formerly Cirius Power Joint Stock Company, established on May 15, 2019). Mr. Ong Khing Wee is the Project and Northern region Director of Viva Land (VN). Mr. Yoong Voon Sin is the CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam. Mr. Chong Kah Fu Adrian is the Project Manager of CapitaLand Vietnam. |
During the period of continuous change of leadership between individuals from Singapore and Malaysia mentioned above, the ownership structure of Twin-Peaks also underwent significant fluctuations. Specifically, on November 8, 2019, all shares belong to companies from Singapore, including Vibrant Growth Pte Ltd holding 51% (34.270% common shares and 16.730% preferential shares), Vibrant Growth Two Pte Ltd holding 45% (30.238% common shares and 14.762% preferential shares), Vibrant Growth Three Pte Ltd holding 4% (2.688% common shares and 1.312% preferential shares).
These companies have similar names and the same address at 168 Robinson Road, Capital Tower, Singapore, and are all members of the ecosystem of the Asian real estate giant CapitaLand.
According to research, CapitaLand’s rights in Vibrant Growth Pte Ltd are held through CapitaLand Vietnam Commercial Value-Added Fund (CVCVF), a real estate investment fund established in 2017 with a scale of 177 million SGD (130 million USD), managed by CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) – the real estate investment branch of CapitaLand Group. Furthermore, CapitaLand Development (CLD) holds 50% of the shares in CVCVF, while the remaining shares are held by MEA Commercial Holdings.
On January 20, 2022, CLD announced the divestment of the Capital Place project for 751 million SGD (550 million USD) to an undisclosed buyer.
The curiosity of the public was not challenged for long as just 4 days later, Viva Land (Viva Land Investment and Development Joint Stock Company) unexpectedly officially announced that it owns Capital Place building. This is one of the largest M&A transactions in the Southeast Asian real estate market in 2022.
At that time, Mr. Ronald Tay – CEO of CLD (Vietnam) stated that the divestment of Capital Place is part of the divestment strategy of CVCVF and is in line with CLD’s capital rotation efforts to invest in the real estate sector. CLD will reallocate the proceeds from the divestment to higher-yielding assets.
The next turn came when on February 7, 2022, the CapitaLand group has only two names left: Vibrant Growth Pte Ltd (51%) and Vibrant Growth Three Pte Ltd (4%) in Twin-Peaks’ shareholder structure, and the remaining 45% belongs to Saigon Helios Company – a legal entity that caused a stir when it entered the list of the 40 largest corporate income taxpayers in Vietnam in 2022.
Saigon Helios was established on June 15, 2017, operating primarily in real estate, headquartered at 259 Trần Hưng Đạo, Cô Giang Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The company originally had a charter capital of 1,000 billion dong, with the largest shareholder holding 98% of the capital being Saigon Star Infrastructure and Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company, while the remaining 1% each belong to Mr. Võ Trung Chính and Mrs. Đặng Thanh Phương, with Mrs. Phương also holding the position of General Director and legal representative. After several changes, by November 2021, the charter capital increased to 3,500 billion dong, and the ownership structure was not disclosed. Currently, the position of General Director and legal representative is held by Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Viết Lan, and the company’s headquarters has also moved to 19 Dong Khoi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Notably, in April 2022, Saigon Helios pledged assets related to its 45% ownership of Twin-Peaks to various banks such as HSBC, Hongkong and Shanghai (Singapore branch), Overseas-Chinese. Prior to that, in December 2021, loan agreements related to Twin-Peaks, Saigon Helios, and another legal entity, Crown Royal, valued at nearly 276.6 billion dong and nearly 335.3 billion dong, respectively, were also used by Saigon Helios as collateral for another transaction.
Returning to the deal, in 2022 – the time when CapitaLand announced its divestment and Viva Land announced itself as the new owner of Capital Place building, the Twin-Peaks’ email addresses also changed. Specifically, on February 22, 2022, the addresses changed from @capitaland.com to @vivaland.com. This data further confirms the “handover” of the Capital Place building transaction between CapitaLand and Viva Land.
Capital Place building (middle) located in a prime location in Hanoi and the Viva Land logo in January 2023, adjacent to Lotte building (left) and Vinhomes Metropolis building (right) – Photo: Huy Khải, January 2023
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About Viva Land, it is shown as one of the three important partners on the official website of Vạn Thịnh Phát Corporation. Despite being newly established, Viva Land plays a role in managing many prime projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
 Source: Screenshot of Vạn Thịnh Phát Corporation’s website
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Viva Land was established in May 2019, with its main business in real estate. Its charter capital is 2,000 billion dong, and its shareholders include Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Kim Khánh holding 30%, Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Mai holding 25%, and Mrs. Dương Thị Hạnh holding 20%. Mr. Đoàn Lâm Cường (living in Ho Chi Minh City) is currently the General Director and legal representative. Previously, these roles were held by individuals such as Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Kim Khánh (December 2021), Mr. Eddie Lim (July 2022), and Mr. Trương Quang Mười (December 2022).
However, just less than a year later, in 2023, the Viva Land logo no longer appears on the 29 Liễu Giai building and has returned to the Capital Place logo as it is today.
 In May 2023, the Vivaland logo was no longer present on the Capital Place building – Photo: Capital Place
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In the latest development at the beginning of this year, on January 25, a Vietnamese individual named Mr. Đoàn Lâm Cường (living in Ho Chi Minh City) took over the position of CEO and legal representative of Twin-Peaks from Mr. Chong Kah Fu. At the same time, the company’s email addresses “reversed” back to @capitalplace.vn.
