Farmers of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultural JSC (HNG). In Q1 this year, HNG’s revenue nearly doubled the same period last year, of which the main contribution came from the sale of fresh fruits. — Photo haagrico.com.vn

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) is due to buy nearly 26 million shares of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture International JSC (HAGL Agrico or HNG).

If the transaction is successful, Thaco will raise its ownership in HNG from 26.29 per cent to 28.62 per cent, corresponding to more than 317 million shares.

Expected trading time lasts from May 19 to June 17 this year.

On the stock market, HNG shares are on the uptrend, currently at nearly VND14,000 (US$0.6) per share.

Recently at the quarterly restructure of the MSCI Frontier Markets Smallcap Indexes basket, HNG was one of two stocks in the Viet Nam market to be newly added.

If temporarily calculating HNG shares at the market price of VND14,000 per share, THACO will have to spend VND360 billion for the deal.

Nguyen Hung Minh, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thaco, recently also increased his stake in HAGL Agrico. By May 8, Minh's holdings in the company increased to 2.74 per cent.

In Q1 this year, HNG’s revenue nearly doubled the same period last year, from VND340 billion to VND666 billion, of which the main contribution came from the sale of fresh fruits, increasing from VND218 billion to VND570 billion.

This is the first quarter HAGL Agrico has made profits after six consecutive quarters of large losses. In 2019, the company suffered a total loss of over VND2.4 trillion.

As of March 31, HNG has been borrowing nearly VND5 trillion from banks, mostly long-term loans. HNG has also borrowed over VND4.3 trillion from HAGL and Thaco, the two main shareholders of the company. — VNS