Masan buys 32.8 per cent of competing seasoning maker

January 20, 2015 | 15:14

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Masan Food Corporation, a subsidiary of Masan Consumer, recently announced it had bought 2.66 million shares, or 32.8 per cent, of Cholimex Food JSC.

Consequently, Cholimex Food has become an associated company of Masan.

Masan and Cholimex are two of the biggest firms in the chilli sauce segment, an important branch of the spice industry.

Masan earlier offered to buy 3.97 million shares, or 49 per cent, of Cholimex Food but two major shareholders of Cholimex, namely Cholon Investment & Import-Export Company Ltd. (Cholimex) holding 40.72 per cent of shares and Nichirei Foods Inc. (Nicheirei) holding 19 per cent of shares, refused to sell shares to Masan. In total, the three firms hold 92.6 per cent of Cholimex’s shares.

Masan wants to invest in Cholimex to increase presence in the market, while Nicheirei and Cholimex want to maintain independent businesses and fair competition in the market. It’s unclear whether the two sides are going to find a common voice.

By By Khanh Trung

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