South Korea’s GS Caltex acquires stake in Vietnam car wash start-up

GS Caltex Corp., South Korea’s second-largest oil refiner by sales, is investing VND39 billion (USD1.6 million) in Vietnam car wash startup VI Automotive Service. 

VietWash, a subsidiary of VI Automotive Service, is a Ho Chi Minh City-based startup that is trying to push the Vietnamese car wash industry forward. VietWash operates about 50 car wash outlets in Vietnam. It also operates car wash outlets at 20 Petromilex service stations.  

This investment, the South Korean company’s first investment in Vietnam, will give GS Caltex a 16.7% stake in VI Automotive Service, according to Yonhap News. GS Caltex said it also plans to sell lubricants in Vietnam.

GS Caltex is a 50-50 joint venture between GS Energy and Chevron Corp., the largest U.S. oil company by market capitalisation. GS Energy is part of South Korean conglomerate GS Holdings, the eighth largest chaebol in South Korea. GS Energy was incorporated on January 3, 2012 as a result of GS Holdings’ spinoff of GS Caltex, its refining, marketing, chemicals and transportation arm, creating a new independent South Korean energy company.