Ministry auctions 15 pct stake in construction giant Viglacera (VGC)
Ministry auctions 15 pct stake in construction giant Viglacera (VGC)
Over $68 million worth of construction materials producer Viglacera’s shares auctioned by the Ministry of Construction has been bought by three private entities.
On Friday, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) auctioned 80.58 million VGC shares of Viglacera Corporation owned by the Ministry of Construction.
Three institutional investors bought 69 million VGC shares, accounting for 86 percent of the total shares offered. The identity of the buyers was not revealed.
All three investors bought the VGC shares at VND23,000 ($0.99) per share, the ministry’s starting price, significantly higher than the trading price of VND20,500 ($0.88) at the time of the sale.
The ministry received VND1.59 trillion ($68.41 million) from the transaction for its 15.4 percent stake in the company.
It still holds nearly 173 million shares of VGC, equivalent to 38.6 percent of Viglacera.
The auction was held according to a government roadmap requiring the ministry to divest its capital from Viglacera by the end of 2019. So the remaining shares are likely to be sold in a second auction.
In 2018, the ministry had auctioned VGC shares for a starting price of VND26,100 ($1.13), but it was unsuccessful.
At the end of 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue had asked the ministry to withdraw all capital from 10 state-owned enterprises before 2019, including Viglacera and major construction firms like HUD, Song Da and VICEM.
Viglacera Corporation is a construction materials company of Vietnam, manufacturing and selling ceramic floor tiles, stone floor tiles, wall tiles, cotto tiles, bricks, float glass, and plumbing fixtures such as sinks and toilets.
It also invests in real estate, and owns large areas of land in industrial parks and other urban areas. In 2018, Viglacera recorded net revenues of nearly VND9 trillion ($388 million), and after-tax profits of VND667 billion ($29.19 million).
