Aeon Financial Service says its US$182 million acquisition deal with a Vietnamese bank is invalid, and demands the return of incurred expenses and compensation for damage.

The company, part of Japan’s largest retail group Aeon, says it has discovered that the accounting information disclosed before the conclusion of the deal, “significantly diverged from reality regarding the equity transfer agreement” for Vietnamese finance company Post and Telecommunication Finance Company Limited ( PTF ), which was concluded with SeABank in October 2023 for around 26.2 billion yen.

Hanoi-based SeABank, which completed the deal early this February, says it has been notified by the Japanese equity buyer and is currently in communication with Aeon Financial to clarify the matter.

The State Bank of Vietnam approved SeABank’s 100% equity transfer to Aeon Financial late last year. Aeon Financial said PTF has become a consolidated subsidiary after the transfer was completed this February.

However, in the process of the merger integration with PTF, Aeon Financial discovered that “inappropriate accounting transactions had been carried out prior to the acquisition of the equity”.

Legal procedures

Says Aeon Financial: “In response to the situation, we immediately investigated the fact with the advice of a local external lawyer, and on June 6, 2025, the company asserted against SeABank that the equity transfer agreement was invalid”.

The Japanese firm also demands from SeABank a thorough investigation of the facts, cooperation with relevant authorities, implementation of legal procedures under Vietnamese law to invalidate the deal, the return of the expenses incurred in concluding the equity transfer agreement, and compensation for damage.

Aeon Financial will pursue “legal liability against SeABank and its directors and other related parties.” It maintains that Vietnam, with its economic growth, is “an important country in our overseas strategy” and “the company's businesses in Vietnam are committed to continuing to contribute to improving the lives of customers”.

Founded in October 1998, PTF is one of Vietnam’s first financial companies, currently with a workforce of nearly 2,000 employees and a customer base of 200,000 across 30 provinces.

SeABank acquired PTF from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group ( VNPT ) in 2018, or five years before selling it to Aeon Financial. The Japanese firm entered the Vietnamese market in 2008 by establishing ACS Vietnam, a unit providing installment financing for consumer goods in partnership with local retailers.

Japanese acquisitions

The State Bank of Vietnam has licensed 16 finance companies but has not issued new licences in recent years. As such, acquisition deals have become the most popular way for new investors to make inroads into the market.

In October 2022, Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ( SMBC ) acquired a 49% stake in Vietnamese finance firm FE Credit from Hanoi-based VPBank for almost US$1.4 billion. It bought another 15% interest in the firm for US$1.5 billion the following year.

In August 2021, MUFG, Japan’s largest banking group, signed an agreement transferring 100% of SHB Finance in two phases from Hanoi-headquartered private bank SHB for 5.1 billion baht ( US$155.77 million ). The price was quoted in the Thai currency as MUFG made the deal via Thailand-based Krungsri Bank, which it owns.

The first phase was completed in May 2023 when the Thai bank took control of a 50% stake. The remaining interest will be transferred in 2026.