Masan Food seeks to buy Cholimex shares

Masan Food seeks to buy Cholimex shares

Masan Food announced early this month that it wants to buy a 49 per cent stake in Cholimex Food Joint Stock Company.

However, two of Cholimex's largest shareholders have declared that they will not sell their shares.

Masan Food, a leading food product firm in Viet Nam, said that it wants the shares in Cholimex Foods because the enterprise is one of the fastest-growing companies dealing in sauces and condiments in Viet Nam, with brands that have been in the market for nearly 30 years.

Masan Food also said they will make a tender offer to buy shares from November 28 to December 29. If its bid is successful, Masan will pay VND90,000 ($4.3) for each share or a total of VND375 billion ($17.8 million).

Reacting to the development on November 22, the two largest shareholders of Cholimex Food, namely Cholimex, which owns 40.72 per cent of the shares, and Nichirei Foods, which has 19 per cent of the shares, said in a joint statement that they will not sell any of their shares to Masan Food.

Masan Food reportedly earned VND10.833 trillion ($508.6 million) in revenue in the first nine months of this year, a 44.3 per cent increase year-on-year.

Cholimex Food gained VND475 billion ($22.6 million) in revenue in the first half of 2014, an increase of 18 per cent year-on-year.

Masan has not had any share or connection with Cholimex so far, even though they both are leading chilli sauce brands in the local market.

The financial website cafef.vn said that by offering an attractive rate of VND90,000 ($4.3) per share, Masan Food will not face any difficulty in buying a 40 per cent stake from the other shareholders.

Cafef.vn also said that it will be the first-ever merger and acquisition (M&A) by Masan in the food sector, the others being with beverage companies such as Vinacafe Bien Hoa, Vinh Hao mineral water and Phu Yen Beer.

On November 26, each share of Masan was listed at VND82,500 ($3.9) on the HCM City Stock Exchange, while each share of Cholimex was listed at VND90,000 in the over-the-counter market.

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