First Vinamilk's stake sale set for December

By Dam Tuan October 27, 2016 | 08:40 pm PT

Vinamilk products are displayed for sale at a shop in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters

The government will offload a 9 percent stake first before completely divesting from the dairy company.

The much anticipated sale of a 9 percent stake in Vietnam's dairy giant Vinamilk will happen in December, the sovereign wealth manager State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has announced.

The timing was revealed by SCIC's Deputy CEO Nguyen Hong Hien. No further details have been provided but all preparation is expected to complete next month.

The Vietnamese government plans to unload its 45 percent stake in Vinamilk, one of the country’s best performing companies. Foreign investors are reportedly very interested in the company.

SCIC has already picked Morgan Stanley as the lead consultant on the first sale. The team of advisors also includes Saigon Securities JSC and VinaCapital Corporate Finance Vietnam Ltd.

Commenting on the government's plan to gradually divest from Vinamilk, the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors said by selling Vinamilk shares through several small offerings, the state will earn $1 billion less than selling the entire stake.

Vinamilk, the country’s largest company by market value, recorded a 27.6 percent jump in January-September gross profit to VND9 trillion ($403 million), the company said in its quarterly financial statement.

Its revenue in the first nine months increased by 17.6 percent from the same period last year, to VND35 trillion ($1.6 billion).

> Vinamilk's Jan-Sep gross profit jumps 28 percent ahead of share sale

> Vietnam’s govt urged to sell entire stake in dairy giant Vinamilk