Oxford college to receive £155m donation from Vietnamese company

Linacre College said the money from the SOVICO Group will be "transformative"

An Oxford University college has agreed to receive a "transformative" donation of £155m from a Vietnamese conglomerate.

Linacre College said it signed a memorandum of understanding with SOVICO Group on Sunday in Edinburgh.

It plans to change its name to Thao College following the first £50m gift.

The company is a founder of Vietjet Air, Vietnam's first private airline, and of HDBank, one of the country's biggest banks.

The college said the money would pay for a new graduate centre and for graduate access scholarships.

Another "significant" part of the donation will also be used for the college's general endowment fund to help support its daily running.

The graduate college was founded in 1962 and named after the 16th Century humanist scholar Thomas Linacre.

The name change - which will need to be approved by the Privy Council - will be made in honour of SOVICO Group's chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.

The college said the company has also committed that all of its subsidiaries will reach net zero carbon by the end of 2050 "with the input from leading Oxford academics".

A new £150m concert hall in Oxford, due to be completed in the 2024/25 academic year, will be financed by American businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman.