Ministry guides brewers to sell shares

Habeco factory in Me Linh District, Ha Noi. The brewery, together with Sabeco, will be listed on the exchange in late 2016 or early 2017 under the guidance of MoIT - Photo enternews.vn

Sai Gon Alcohol, Beer and Beverages Corp. (Sabeco) and Hanoi Beer Alcohol and Beverage JSC (Habeco) will complete their divestiture from state funding in the near future.

The steering committee will be headed by MoIT Deputy Minister Cao Quoc Hung and consist of 10 other members from MoIT's authoritative departments and directors of Sabeco and Habeco.

The committee will aid the MoIT minister in governing the sale of shares in Sabeco and Habeco as per entrustment from the prime minister, as well as assist in the construction and implementation of the two companies' divestment from state funding in accordance with legal procedures.

In August, MoIT gave its approval for Sabeco and Habeco to be listed on the appropriate domestic stock exchanges before actually selling shares to interested investors.

Sabeco will be listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), while Habeco will be listed on the market for stocks of unlisted public companies (UPCoM) of the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

During the government's month meeting on October 4, the chairman of the Government's Office, Minister Mai Tien Dung said: "The Prime Minister had tasked the two businesses with listing on the exchange in 2016. If a delay occurs, the governing body, which is the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will have to take full responsibility."

Nonetheless, according to MoIT Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong, despite the ministry's effort to accelerate the process, legal procedures could postpone Sabeco's and Habeco's listing until early 2017.

Sabeco expects to divest 53.59 per cent of its charter capital in 2016, equal to US$1.07 billion, and another $716 million in 2017 upon their listing on the stock market. Habeco expects to completely divest its 81.79 per cent of state owned capital valued at $402 million in 2016.

The Vietnam Association of Financial Investors estimated that the government could retrieve up to $2.2 billion from divesting 89.6 per cent of Sabeco's shares and 82 per cent of Habeco's alone.