Bloomberg

 

(Dec 12): Vietnam&rsquo s State Capital Investment Corp. failed to sell the entire portion of its Vietnam Dairy Products JSC stake auctioned Monday, raising about $716 million after Fraser & Neave and its unit acquired two-thirds of the shares offered.

SCIC, as the government&rsquo s investment arm is commonly known, raised about 11.3 trillion dong ($716 million) from the sale of about 78.4 million Vinamilk shares at an auction organised by the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, according to information posted on the bourse&rsquo s website. SCIC, which had offered about 130.63 million shares, or 9% of Vinamilk stake, still holds 39.6% of the company after the sale.

The result was &ldquo very much expected&rdquo because just two institutional investors participated in the sale and the bidding process was complicated, said Ho Chi Minh City-based Michel Tosto, managing director, head of institutional sales and brokerage at Viet Capital Securities JSC.

&ldquo Investors had expected the shares to be offered at discount, as per international practice, but they were offered at premium so they were unimpressed, &rdquo he said.

With the shares purchase, F& N increased its stake in Vinamilk to 16.4%.

Shares of Vinamilk fell the first time in three days Monday, dropping 1.% to 133,700 dong at close.

Foreign investors have long awaited SCIC&rsquo s divestment of the highly coveted Vinamilk, the nation&rsquo s largest company by market value. The dairy company in July received approval from the securities commission to remove the 49% foreign ownership limit on its stocks, paving the way for investors to buy more.

&ldquo Investors, mainly retail, are disappointed as Vinamilk shares are under-subscribed,&rdquo Tosto said. &ldquo We believe that the government will keep the unsold shares for several years before offering them again.&rdquo