Jardine Cycle buys 5.5 pct stake in Vietnam's Vinamilk for $617 mln

Jardine Cycle & Carriage

13/11/2017 03:53

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Singapore-listed Jardine Cycle 
and Carriage Ltd  JCYC.SI  said on Monday one of its units has 
agreed to buy a 5.53 percent stake in Vietnamese dairy firm 
Vinamilk  VNM.HM , the country's biggest listed company, for 
$616.6 million.   
    Vinamilk is among a handful of state assets to attract 
significant interest from foreign investors as the government 
works to reform state-owned enterprises.  
    Jardine Cycle, part of the diversified Jardine Matheson 
group, said it bought the shares through the open market and 
participation in an auction by the State Capital Investment 
Commission of Vietnam. 
    "The taking of this relevant interest in Vinamilk is in line 
with the JC&C group's strategy of investing in market leading 
companies in Southeast Asia," it said in a filing to the 
Singapore bourse on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nSNZ17PKmz 
    The deal increases Jardine Cycle's exposure to the 
Vietnamese economy, and it remained open to making further such 
investments, it added.  
    The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said last week that an 
overseas institutional investor had bought a stake in Vinamilk, 
but did not name the investor.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1NG46G 
    Last year, SCIC offered to sell 9 percent of Vinamilk but 
sold only 5.4 percent. Investors looking to gain a degree of 
control over Vinamilk had been partly deterred by the size of 
stake on offer.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1E72OT 
    Vinamilk shares rose nearly 4 percent on Monday to hit a 
record 181,500 dong. 
    ($1 = 22,710.0000 dong) 
 
 (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan 
Editing by Richard Pullin) 
 ((aradhana.aravindan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5659; Reuters 
Messaging: aradhana.aravindan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: VINAMILK JARDINE/