Water price scandal pulls down Duong River company's CEO

Duong River Surface Water Plant

In the latest change in business registration by Duong River Water Surface Plant JSC (Duong River), Do Thi Kim Lien officially left her the position as the CEO.She also left her post as general director of Aqua One JSC that owns 41 per cent of the shares in Duong River.

Despite that, Lien kept her position as Duong River’s chairwoman. Taking her seat in both companies is Ta Duc Hoang, a member of Duong River’s management board.

The business registration certificate also saw a significant change in the company’s leadership after Thailand-based WHA Utilities & Power Plc. (WHAUP) acquired 34 per cent of the stakes. Accordingly, Duong River’s leadership structure has been rearranged with new Thai faces like Natthapatt Tanboon-Ek (member of the board of supervisors), Jareeporn Jarukornsakul (member of the management board), Vivat Jiratikarnsakil (member of the management board), and Wisate Chungwatana (member of the management board).

Dynamic shareholder structure

Duong River was licensed on June 8, 2016, with the initial shareholders being Vietinbank Capital (58 per cent), VIAC (No1) Limited Partnership (27 per cent), and the two pure water suppliers Hawaco (10 per cent) and Newtatco (5 per cent).

However, the two state-owned shareholders have been steadily selling down their 85 per cent over the past three years, transferring it to three new shareholders, including Toan My 14 Investment and Construction JSC (30 per cent), Aqua One JSC (45 per cent), and Saigon Capital JSC (10 per cent).

Similar to the Vietinbank Capital, Saigon Capital is also an authorised intermediary investing in Duong River. Its financial report also pointed out that it purchased 10 million sares from another shareholder at the unit price of VND35,000 ($1.52).

As of last August, the company’s shareholder structure changed again, to Aqua One holding 41 per cent, Do Tat Thang (member of the management board) 34 per cent, Saigon Capital 10 per cent, and Newtatco 5 per cent.

Most recently, WHAUP purchased Do Tat Thang's 34 per cent for VND2.073 trillion ($90.13 million), equaling VND61,000 ($2.65) per stock. The Thai investor also assessed the value of the company at VND6.1 trillion ($265.2 million), while the market capitalisation stays at VND2.5 trillion ($108.7 million).