F&N snaps up six million Vinamilk shares after numerous failed attempts

F&N Dairy Investments has increased its ownership in Vinamilk to a little less than 18 per cent

Two foreign funds, Platinum Victory Pte., Ltd. and F&N Dairy Investments, have repeatedly registered to buy Vinamilk shares despite failing multiple times. At the latest successful transaction, F&N Dairy Investments has completed the purchase of 6.6 million shares of Vinamilk in March 2018. Meanwhile, Platinum Victory Pte., Ltd. successfully purchased only 130,000 shares in July 2018.

F&N Dairy Investments is a subsidiary of Fraser & Neave Limited (F&N), a food and beverage, publishing, and former brewing and property conglomerate in Singapore held by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. F&N Dairy Investments has been a major shareholder of Vinamilk since the dairy firm was equitised in 2005.

After several attempts to increase its ownership, F&N Dairy Investments currently holds 307.5 million shares (17.65 per cent) of Vinamilk. The foreign fund is the second-largest stakeholder of Vinamilk behind State Capital Investment Corporation, which owns a 36 per cent stake at Vinamilk.

Singapore-based Platinum Victory, the subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson, likewise, has become a major shareholder of Vinamilk after SCIC's auction in November 2017. After years of continuously purchasing Vinamilk shares, the fund has increased its ownership to 10.62 per cent or 184.9 million shares.

Other than these two major shareholders, many special investment funds like Mathews, Genesis Group, Deutsche Bank, Vietnam Ventures, the Government of Singapore, Dragon Capital, and Morgan Stanley all hold stakes in Vinamilk.

Vinamilk posted VND56.32 trillion ($2.45 billion) in revenue and VND10.55 trillion ($458.7 million) in after-tax profit in 2019, up 7 and 3.4 per cent against 2018. After-tax profit for shareholders of the parent company increased by 3.5 per cent to VND10.58 trillion ($460 million), which equals to an earning per share of about VND5,470 (24 US Cents).