Vinamotor expects to sell its entire shares in lot in the coming auction. — Photo thesaigontimes.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Ha Noi Stock Exchange has announced it will host the auction of State-owned shares in a lot for Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation (Vinamotor) on January 11, 2016.

The investors who want to take part in the auction will have to buy the entire 85.58 million shares, or 97.7 per cent of Vinamotor's registered capital, at a starting price of VND14,612 per share (US$0.64), for a total of more than VND1.15 trillion ($51.1 million).

The list of investors who have met the conditions for the auction will be announced on January 4. They will have ownership capital of no less than VND926 billion ($41.16 million) as of June 30, 2015, and no cumulative losses. They will have to commit to not transferring their stakes in Vinamotor for five years.

The sale of shares in the lot is expected to help Vinamotor achieve success in the coming auction.

Last year, Vinamotor conducted its initial public offering with expected registered capital of VND1 trillion ($44.4 million). It offered 51 per cent of the registered capital, or 51 million shares, at a starting price of VND10,000 per share. However, the IPO failed, selling only 1.5 million shares, or 3 per cent of the offering.

After the IPO, it held registered capital of VND876 billion ($38.9 million), of which the State owned 97.7 per cent.

Vinamotor mainly operates in auto mechanics. It owns an auto assembly factory in northern Bac Giang Province and has invested in many subsidiary companies.

The corporation owns 6.65 million shares, or 21.6 per cent of shares in TMT Auto Company, which is listed on the stock market. The TMT share price tripled this year to reach nearly VND50,000 per share.

TMT is also one of several investors who have asked to buy Vinamotor shares from the transport ministry.

In a talk with Vietnam Television recently, Chairman of Vinamotor Nguyen Hai Trung said there were four investors interested in buying shares in lots because if the transaction turned out to be successful, the investor would get the right amount of control over the business.

In 2014, Vinamotor earned VND1.7 trillion ($75.6 million) in revenue and VND165 billion ($7.3 million) in after-tax profits, showing great progress in comparison with 2013, when the corporation saw a loss of VND15 billion ($666,666). Its profit mainly comes from its subsidiaries and associated companies. — VNS