Vietnam fund hires Greg Norman to design $130 mln golf complex
VinaCapital has chosen former golfing great Greg Norman, now one of the world’s top golf course designers, for its US$130 million golf complex in central Vietnam.
A contract was signed Tuesday for the purpose.
Horst Geicke, chairman of the UK-listed VinaCapital, said construction of the 260ha complex in Danang city’s Hoa Hai Ward would be divided into two phases.
In the first phase, a 350-room five-star hotel, villas, and the 18-hole golf course, to be named Dunes, will be built.
In the second, two five-star hotels, a cultural village, a meeting hall, a 33-storey twin tower, and another 18-hole golf course – this one called Heritage – will be constructed.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of this year and take two to three years.
Under a memorandum of understanding inked with the local government, VinaCapital has a 50-year lease on the site for which it paid $29 million.
VinaCapital is also set to begin work on a $200 million commercial-residential complex in Danang.
It will have trading centers, apartments, office blocks, and villas on nine hectares in Son Tra district.
Established in 2003, VinaCapital manages three funds with a total corpus of $1.4 billion: the $800 million VOF, the $600 million Vinaland – both listed on the London Stock Exchange – and the $50 million DFJ VinaCapital L.P. which invests in information and communications technology firms.
VinaCapital fund oversubscribed
In related news, a mutual fund issued on the London stock market by the Vietnam Infrastructure Limited (VIL), VinaCapital’s fourth fund which will invest in infrastructure projects in Vietnam, has been oversubscribed by over three times.
The issue targeted $200 million but applications have been received for $780 million. VinaCapital will retain $350 to $400 million under a greenshoe option.
One-third each will be invested in companies building infrastructure, new projects, and projects that are underway but need more capital.
VIL eyes include roads, bridges, hydropower and thermal power plants, ports, and airports.
The company aims for an average annual return of 20 percent per annum from investment to exit.
Vietnam’s rapid growth over the last decade has placed increasing strain on its ageing infrastructure with demand fast outstripping supply.
According to the World Bank, it will need to invest $140 billion in infrastructure over the next five years.
Source: VietnamNet, Thanh Nien – Compiled by Dong Ha
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