Vietnam's top brewer Sabeco wins listing approval

By Reuters/Ho Binh Minh September 26, 2016 | 07:19 pm PT

Bottles of beer move along a production line at a factory of Saigon Beer Corporation (Sabeco) in Hanoi, Vietnam May 26, 2015. Picture taken on May 26, 2015. Photo by Reuters/Kham

The brewer plans to select a consultant firm to advise on the listing.

Vietnam's top brewer Sabeco seeks listing on HCMC bourse

Vietnam's biggest beer producer Sabeco has won government approval to list shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the nation's largest bourse, state-run newspapers reported on Tuesday.

State-owned Sabeco, as the Saigon Beer, Alcohol, Beverage Corp is known, is valued by the government at $2 billion and was first earmarked for privatization in 2008. The brewer plans to select a consultant firm to advise on the listing, the official Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said, citing the approval from the Industry and Trade Ministry.

Officials at Sabeco, brewer of Bia Saigon and 333 beers, were not immediately available for comment.

The brewer has received expressions of partnership interest from several major foreign brewers since it was first slated for privatization. The selloff, however, has been repeatedly delayed.