Standard Chartered invests $35 million in Vietnamese restaurant chain The Standard Chartered headquarters in London. The bank's private equity arm has recently made its first investment in Vietnam. Photo: Bloomberg Standard Chartered’s private equity arm announced, Tuesday, that it acquired a significant minority stake in Vietnamese restaurant chain operator Golden Gate for US$35 million. Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) said that the deal marks its first investment in Vietnam. Bert Kwan, head of Southeast Asia at SCPE, and investment professional Lee Tjen Chew will join Golden Gate’s board, according to the release. SCPE’s announcement came after Mekong Capital, a Vietnamese private equity firm, said it had exited its investment in Golden Gate, resulting in a net 9.1-fold return on its investment. Mekong Capital Partner Chad Ovel said in statement released on September 12 that Golden Gate has grown from five restaurants in 2008 (when the firm first made its investment) to 67 presently. “Nonetheless, as a lot of value had been created in the period of our investment, we saw this as an opportunity to realize profits for the fund,” said Ovel. Mekong Capital reportedly invested $2.6 million in Golden Gate in 2008, and two years later started to partially sell off its holding, according to the Wall Street Journal. Its original stake wasn’t disclosed. Golden Gate is one of the leading restaurant chain operators in Vietnam with popular brands like mushroom hotpot restaurant Ashima, rotary express hotpot restaurant Kichi-Kichi, grill and hotpot restaurant SumoBBQ and beer club Vuvuzela. Thanh Nien News