Ninh Hoa Sugar announces merger plans

Ninh Hoa Sugar announces merger plans

Ninh Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Company has planned to seek delisting and merger with Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Company at its annual shareholder meeting to be held tomorrow.

According to Ninh Hoa Sugar's documents prepared for tomorrow's meeting, all of its outstanding shares coded as NHS on HCM City Exchange will be swapped to Bien Hoa Sugar JSC's shares listed as BHS.

This move is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness in the market as well as increasing the financial, management and production capacity.

If the deal is successful, Ninh Hoa Sugar, with an estimated market capitalisation of VND711 billion (US$33.8 million), as of Monday will be under 100 per cent ownership of Bien Hoa Sugar JSC, with VND756 billion ($36 million) market capitalisation.

After the merger, Bien Hoa Sugar will have the largest raw material area in the country, which will cover 23,500 hectares.

With stable raw materials together with a combined capacity exceeding 10,000 tonnes per day, the production costs will be lowered, which was the key factor in competition when local sugar prices were relatively higher than in the neighbouring countries.

Merger and acquisition was among the solutions for sugar companies to restructuring for cost savings and efficiency amidst rising competition and high stockpiles of the sugar industry.

Both companies reported profits in the first quarter of this year, with Bien Hoa earning VND20 billion ($952,000) and Ninh Hoa Sugar earning VND28 billion ($1.3 million).

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