VinaCapital buys major stake in Vietnamese travel company Vietravel (VTR)
VinaCapital buys major stake in Vietnamese travel company Vietravel (VTR)
Vietnam Travel and Marketing Transports Joint Stock Company (Vietravel), whose VTR shares are traded on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCOM), announced that its largest shareholder – Vietravel Holdings – has transferred 1.78 million VTR shares, a 10.3-percent stake, to VinaCapital, an investment and asset management firm based in Vietnam.
The shares were transfered last Friday through order-matching and put-through methods at a price of VND24,000 (US$1) per share.
Following the deal, Vietravel Holdings maintained 5.26 million VTR shares in the company, lowering its stake to 30.38 percent from 40.68 percent.
According to the Vietravel Holdings leadership, the participation of VinaCapital in Vietravel will open up opportunities for the firm to increase its capital for tourism business activities and diversify its business lines.
Tourism has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, but the sector is forecast to recover quickly and strongly as people who have not been able to travel for several years look to take vacations and business trips.
In the fourth quarter of this year, Vietravel expects to serve some 150,000 tourist arrivals and earn VND1 trillion ($42.2 milllion) in travel revenue.
To restructure the company, Vietravel has also transferred more than 39 million shares, equivalent to a 30.22-percent stake, from Vietravel Airlines to Vietravel Holdings in order to focus on its tourism operations and facilitate its financial activities.
After the transfer, Vietravel held 17.8 million Vietravel Airlines shares, or 13.7 percent of the airline’s charter capital.
Meanwhile, Vietravel Holdings’ share in Vietravel Airlines increased to 85.8 percent, making it the largest stakeholder in the business.
The trade of VTR shares on UPCOM has been restricted to Friday sessions only as Vietravel has reported negative equity.
VTR closed the Wednesday session unchanged over the previous session at VND21,300 ($0.9).
