Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) will organise a roadshow on August 20 at the Ha Noi Stock Exchange to introduce its initial public offering (IPO) to investors.

Vinalines will offer more than 488.8 million shares for sale, equal to 34.8 per cent of its charter capital, at the coming IPO. The initial bidding price is VND10,000 (US$0.43) per share.

The IPO is scheduled for September 5, 2018 at the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) for individuals and institutional investors that have met requirements released by the HNX on August 7.

“We will provide potential investors with up-to-date information about the IPO, opportunities and challenges that they may have when buying Vinalines shares,” said Tran Tuan Hai, head of Vinalines’ public relations department.

Investors will have to complete registration and make deposits for the IPO by August 28.

The Ministry of Transport on August 3 issued Decision 1659/QD-BGTVT to approve Vinalines’ IPO plan.

According to the ministry, the company had failed to select a strategic investor, so the nearly 208 million shares they had planned to offer to a strategic investor were instead added to the number of shares offered for IPO sale.

SK Securities had signed up to become the strategic partner of Vinalines, but the South Korean firm failed to reach an agreement with Vinalines regarding technology and human support.

After the IPO, Vinalines plans to sell 2.29 million shares to its employees at a preferential price level and 500,000 shares to the company’s labour union. The State’s ownership in Vinalines will be 65 per cent, equal to nearly 913 million shares.

According to the company’s audited consolidated financial statements for 2017, as of December 31, 2017, Vinalines suffered accumulated losses of nearly VND3.3 billion. Total assets and equity were VND28.1 billion and nearly VND8 billion, respectively. — VNS