Vietnam’s largest ice-cream maker to delist stock

The last trading day of the company on the Unlisted Public Company Market will be December 10, the company said in a statement.

Its shares on Wednesday were priced at VND44,500 ($1.93) apiece, up 52 percent from the beginning of the year.

The company said it will spend VND168 billion on paying dividends, with each shareholder receiving VND3,000 per share.

After the delisting, Kido Foods will be wholly-owned by its parent company Kido Group, which currently owns a 65 percent stake in the ice-cream producer.

The holders of Kido Foods's KDF shares will get 1.3 Kido Group's KDC shares for each share they own.

Kido Group established Kido Foods in 2003 to purchase Unilever’s ice-cream plant producing the Wall’s brand ice cream.

Kido Foods has 41.4 percent of Vietnam’s ice-cream market share at present, led by popular brands Merino and Celano.

Its post-tax profit rose 16 percent to VND164 billion in the first nine months of this year.

Kido Group leaders have said that the merger will allow the company to lower costs, help it become more competitive and expand its market share.