Mekong Enterprise Fund II partially divests from MobileWorld

The exited shares represent a 11x return (including dividends received) since the fund’s initial investment in 2007. As a result of the transaction, the fund’s ownership in MobileWorld has reduced from 32.5 to 25.8 per cent.

“The tremendous growth and success of MobileWorld since we originally invested in 2007 is largely due to the openness and pro-activeness of the five co-founders to identify and implement best practices, and invest in developing an excellent management team. They’ve also done a great job creating a corporate culture of integrity and responsibility, and strong corporate governance,” said Chris Freund, managing partner of Mekong Capital and a member of the Board of Directors of MobileWorld. “MobileWorld is a model for what’s possible in Vietnam’s private sector when the founders and top management are open-minded and take action to develop an excellent team.”

Mobile World is Vietnam’s leading mobile phone retailer. The company’s TheGioiDiDong subsidiary has 230 mobile-device stores nationwide throughout Vietnam, with approximately 20 per cent market share in mobile phone sales. The company’s Dienmay subsidiary currently has 12 consumer electronics stores, concentrated in southern Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.

Mekong Enterprise Fund II is the second of three funds managed by Mekong Capital. Mekong Enterprise Fund II made 10 investments of which it has already fully sold two: ICP (consumer products) and Mai Son (retail). The fund’s remaining investments include Golden Gate (restaurants), Mobile World (retail), Asia Chemical Corp (chemical distribution), Vietnam Australia International School (K-12 education), VIVCO (industrial work-wear), DigiWorld (IT distribution), MK Smart (card manufacturing) and Ngo Han (magnet wire).