Vietnam plans up to $310 mln Vinamilk share sale in Oct (updated)

Fraser and Neave

04/08/2017 11:19

(Adds detail, quotes) 
    By Mai Nguyen 
    HANOI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Vietnam plans to sell a little more 
than 3 percent stake in dairy company Vinamilk  VNM.HM  this 
year, after a similar exercise in 2016 saw tepid response from 
investors unhappy over highly restrictive investment limits.    
    Vinamilk, along with two beer firms Sabeco  SAB.HM  and 
Habeco  BHN.HM , are among the few attractive state assets and 
the stake sale is expected to push forward the government's plan 
to reform many troubled state-owned enterprises.  
    The sale of a 3.33 percent stake is expected in October, 
likely even sooner, and foreign investors too would be able to 
bid, said Nguyen Duc Chi, chairman of State Capital Investment 
Corporation, the government's investment vehicle. 
    Chi said the state investment company would try to remove 
all "limitations" that were put in place last year, when 
investors subscribed to only 5.4 percent of the 9 percent shares 
on offer.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1E72OT 
    Restrictions on investment as well as unfavourable market 
conditions saw only two bids when the offer opened late last 
year, both from wholly owned units of Fraser and Neave 
 FRNM.SI , Vinamilk's existing shareholder. 
    Investors last year were also put off by the small offer 
size, as the government had said it would sell its entire stake, 
about 44.7 percent at that time, in Vinamilk. The government now 
owns 39.34 percent, Thomson Reuters data showed. 
    This time around, Chi said the stake sale would attract 
specific types of investors.  
    "There are different segments among investors," he said. "If 
we sell all of our shares, it may as well attract only one 
segment of investors; it's not guaranteed there will be many 
interested investors then."  
    The sale, if successful, would see the state investment firm 
reduce its stake to 36 percent, enough to retain veto rights in 
the dairy firm, which posted a 17 percent increase in net profit 
in the first half of 2017. 
    The state investor estimates the stake sale would fetch 
6.5-7.0 trillion dong ($285.90-$307.90 million), Chi said, or 
about 134,484-144,829 dong per share.  
    Vinamilk shares closed flat at 154,000 dong on Friday. 
     
 
 (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and 
Biju Dwarakanath) 
 ((mai.nguyen@thomsonreuters.com; +8424 3825 9623; Reuters 
Messaging: mai.nguyen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: VINAMILK SALE/