Thailand
Vietnam: Platinum Victory sets sight on higher stake in Vinamilk
If successful, Platinum Victory will increase its holding at Vinamilk to 11.62% from the current 10.62%, or 168.57 million shares.
At the current market price of VND170,500 (US$7.43) a Vinamilk share, the fund would need at least VND2.47 trillion (US$107.59 million) for this transaction, which is expected to be scheduled from July 18 to August 16 via put-through transactions and order-matching transactions on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE).
On July 12, Platinum Victory completed the purchase of 129,270 shares in Vinamilk, increasing its holding in the latter from 10.61% to 10.62%. The shares purchased were part of the 14.51 million units Platinum Victory had registered to buy in from June 13 to July 12.
The fund was unable to purchase the registered amount due to the unfavorable market conditions, it said.
Jardine Matheson is one of Asia’s biggest conglomerates which has interest in luxury hotels, motor vehicles, property, food retailing, transport financial services and agribusiness. The group, through its subsidiaries Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) and Platinum Victory, has invested in Vietnam for many years.
Platinum Victory currently is the third largest shareholder at Vinamilk, after State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) at 36% and F&N Dairy Investment at 17.31%.
Both Platinum Victory and F&N Dairy Investment are in a race to increase their respective holdings at Vinamilk.
In early July, F&N Dairy Investment also registered to purchase 14.51 million Vinamilk shares from July 11 to August 9. Since 2017, the Singaporean fund has tried 16 times buying Vinamilk shares unsuccessfully, according to exchange announcements.
Vinamilk sets its revenue target in 2018 of VND55.5 trillion (US$2.4 billion), up 8.5% yearly. Under the plan, Vinamilk estimated its after-tax profit to reach VND10.7 trillion (US$473 million), increasing 4.6% over 2017.
Vietnam’s dairy industry posted revenue of over VND100 trillion (US$4.4 billion) last year, an increase of 10% over the previous year, with Vinamilk commanding a market share of around 50%, according to the latest statistics.