VinaCapital Vietnam sells 23.6% stake in An Giang Plant for $63.1 mln in cash

VinaCapital Vietnam sells 23.6% stake in An Giang Plant for $63.1 mln in cash

VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited (VOF.L), an investment company established to target key growth segments within Vietnam, announced Friday that it has finalized the Share Purchase Agreement to divest its stake in An Giang Plant Protection JSC, to Standard Chartered Private Equity by completing all required conditions precedent.

VOF will sell its 23.6 percent stake in An Giang Plant for $63.1 million in cash or 85,000 Vietnamese Dong per share, representing an IRR of 23.7 percent over a period of five years.

Initially, VOF invested in AGPP as a private equity investment and has since seen it become a public company with over 100 shareholders.

The value of this transaction represents a premium of 22.0 percent over the 31 May 2014 net asset value, the last recorded value prior to receiving an offer for the shares.

An Giang Plant Protection manufacturers and distributes pesticides in Vietnam. The company utilizes a distribution network of 500 wholesalers and 4,500 retail outlets to distribute its 23 stock-keeping units (SKU). The company has over 3,000 employees. In 2013, AGPP delivered revenue of $354 million, an increase of over 17.0 percent year-on-year.

Regarding the transaction, Andy Ho, VinaCapital's Chief Investment Officer stated, "This significant divestment highlights the quality of VOF's overall investment portfolio and provides further evidence to support our belief; that VOF's share price to NAV discount is too wide. Proceeds from this divestment are currently being considered for a few major private equity investment opportunities and the ongoing share buyback programme."

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