Vietnam Rubber Group to sell 25% stake worth US$563 mn

Rubber-GroupState-run Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) is putting 25% of its stakes up for sale in an initial public offering (IPO), which is worth an estimated US$563 million (12.8 billion dong), the company said.

The sale is part of Vietnam’s plans to trim stakes in state-owned enterprises, which picked up pace after a new government took office last year. The government aims to sell holdings in 135 state-owned companies in 2017, it said in late August.

VRG plans to sell 11.88% of the company to the public and another 11.88% to a strategic investor, according to its share sale plan published on the company’s website. The group has not chosen a strategic investor yet.

The company also plans to sell 1.21% and 0.03% to its employees and trade union, respectively. Vietnam’s government would own the remaining 75% of the shares.

VRG has not finalised a listing plan. In Vietnam, listing and an IPO are separate processes.

The group aims to complete the IPO process in 3 months once the share sale plan is approved by the government.

VRG is a state-own producer and manufacturer of rubber and rubber products. It expects a net profit of 3,060 billion dong (US$134.62 million) in 2017, up 9.4% from 2,797 billion dong in 2016.