Vingroup, which has its own retail brand VinMart, has acquired a 100 percent stake to become the new owner of Maximark, the Hanoi-based firm. The acquisition includes nine Maximark outlets and other properties which previously belonged to Ho Chi Minh City-based An Phong Investment JSC.

All of these nine outlets will become members of either the VinMart or Vincom Retail chains operated by Vingroup after the acquisition is completed.

Maximark is a popular retailer in southern and south-central Vietnam, with four supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Khanh Hoa and one each in Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, and Phu Yen.

Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Phu Yen are all south-central provinces, while Dong Nai is a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Maximark deal came only six months after Vingroup signed another to acquire the Vinatexmart fashion store chain from state-run Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex).

The deal allowed the company to own 39 Vinatexmart outlets in 19 cities and provinces across the country.

Both of the Vinatexmart and Maximark deals are part of a strategy to boost the company’s presence in the retail sector countrywide and particularly in the southern market, according Vingroup.

In October 2014, Vingroup officially entered the retail sector by acquiring the OceanMart chain from Ocean Group and renamed it VinMart.

As of October 2015, there are 125 VinMart outlets under the names of VinMart and VinMart+, whereas the Vincom Retail chain consists of 12 Vincom and Vincom Mega Mall facilities.

The giant property developer turned the first sod at Vincom Rach Gia in the southern province of Kien Giang earlier this month, and has plans to increase the number of outlets to 40 in 2016, and 100 by 2020.