Vinatex undecided on strategic foreign partner ahead of IPO
Vinatex undecided on strategic foreign partner ahead of IPO
The first initial public offering (IPO) of Vietnam National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex) will be launched this July but Vinatex has yet to decide on the selection of a strategic foreign partner.
According to Vinatex chairman Vu Duc Giang, the date of the IPO has been rescheduled from early July to the end of that month or the third quarter. However, Vinatex is still in talks with a couple of investors, so no strategic foreign investor has been named.
Giang said that with the group’s strong capability, quite a few investors had shown interest but selecting an investor that the group could work with had proved to be a tough job.
Vinatex has set three criteria; first, investors must be active in the same sector as Vinatex and have good governance; second, investors must have flexible financial management suitable to the group; and third, investors must be keen on the sector.
According to Giang, in case Vinatex is not able to pick a strategic foreign investor, it will seek the Government’s approval to sell 20-30% of IPO shares to local shareholders, and the State will hold the rest. However, this is the final option but not a preferable one.
Besides, Vinatex has worked with the Ministry of Finance, the State Audit of Vietnam and other agencies to evaluate its real and surplus value to set a starting price for the coming IPO.
Regarding divestment from non-core businesses, there are still three companies which Vinatex has yet to divest from, but the number of shares the group holds at these entities is not considerable with less than 2%. The group is seeking to sell such shares and the process is expected to finish late this year.
vietnamnet
