Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised the Asian Development Bank (“ADB”) as mandated lead arranger and lender on a financing package of up to US$80m granted to Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (“LPBank”) to expand access to finance for a women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (“WSME”) project in Vietnam.
The financing includes a loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and syndicated parallel loans from the Export-Import Bank of China (“CEXIM”) and from the ILX Fund (“ILX”), an asset manager based in the Netherlands and focused on supporting sustainable development goals in emerging markets. This financing will help develop new products and procedures to better support WSMEs, who often face challenges in accessing commercial finance due to factors like lack of collateral and low financial literacy. Overall, this initiative by LPBank aims to empower women entrepreneurs in Vietnam and contribute to the country’s economic development.
ADB is a regional development bank supporting projects in developing countries across the Asia Pacific region by providing loans, technical assistance, grants and equity investments to promote social and economic development. LPBank is one of the leading private joint-stock banks in Vietnam, with robust digital platforms that use innovative solutions to cater to the differing needs of its retail and SME customers.
The cross-border WFW Finance team that advised ADB was led by Hanoi Partner Matt Lorimer, supported by Counsel Christian Orton and Senior Associate Mai Dao.
Matt commented: “We are proud to have supported ADB, CEXIM and ILX on this meaningful project. LPBank’s initiative empowers women entrepreneurs in Vietnam to overcome financial challenges and develop their businesses. We are always delighted to participate in such transformative initiatives and look forward to future collaborations with ADB, LP Bank, CEXIM and ILX on similar projects”.
