BVIM, a Hanoi, Vietnam-based private equity firm, has begun marketing its second p.e. fund focused on its domestic market. The $300 million Vietnam Investment Fund II will invest in Vietnamese companies seeking growth capital and the privatization of state-owned assets. The firm expects to gold a first close this quarter.

“Conditions are excellent for investing Vietnam's growth companies in an early stage of their capital formation,” Bradley Lalonde, co-founder CIO of BVIM, said. “Some of the best opportunities are ahead. Our funds are well positioned to take advantage of the Vietnamese growth story.”

BVIM is a joint venture between Vietnam Partners, an investment firm founded in 2003, and The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, one of Vietnam's largest State-owned banking institutions. BVIM managed a total of US$94.7 million as of September 2007 through its Vietnam Investment Fund.

Prior to co-founding Vietnam Partners in 2003, Lalonde spent over 25 years in executive positions at Citibank in a variety of emerging market countries, including five years in Vietnam as Citibank’s CEO from 1994 to 1999.