FLC denies selling Bamboo Airways stake

By Anh Tu June 9, 2020 | 06:26 pm PT

A Bamboo Airways aircraft prepares to land at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Phuong D. Nguyen.

Parent company FLC has asserted that it has had no plans to sell its Bamboo Airways stake to another Vietnamese conglomerate as rumored.

La Quy Hien, FLC Deputy CEO, made the assertion at the company’s annual general meeting Tuesday, following recent rumors on social media that it has sold its subsidiary to an unnamed conglomerate in Vietnam.

Hien added that FLC still owns 52.7 percent of Bamboo Airways and FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet and other individuals own the rest.

However, Hien acknowledged that "Many big and potential investors have shown interest in Bamboo Airways, and FLC leaders have met with most of them."

FLC is seeking permission to make an initial public offering (IPO) for the airline. Bamboo Airways had earlier announced plans to list on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), Vietnam’s main bourse.

The Vietnam Valuation and Inspection Quality Jsc, a business valuation company, has valued the carrier at VND33.3 trillion ($1.4 billion).

Bamboo Airways’s charter capital in April was increased by 73 percent to VND7 trillion ($299 million), and Hien said that FLC does not plan to pour more money into the airline this year. The company maintains its target to achieve 30 percent of the aviation market share this year.

The airline began flying in January 2019 and operates 40 domestic and international routes.