View of a power plant run by PeroVietnam Power Corporation. The Government is planning to reduce its stake in the State-owned enterprise to below 50 per cent. — Photo thoibao.today
The Viet Nam’s Government plans to sell a part of its ownership in the electricity producer PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) to foreign investors, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal cited the head of the Business Renovation and Development Committee Pham Dang Tuat as saying that the Government is seeking to sell a part of its ownership in PV Power to a strategic investor.
The deal will reduce the State’s capital in PV Power to below 50 per cent and generate about US$932 million for the Government to make investment in other power projects.
Viet Nam News attempted to contact PV Power and the Ministry of Industry and Trade – the representative of the Government to manage the State’s investment in the company. The ministry declined to comment while PV Power could not be reached.
PV Power is a member company of the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and is currently the second largest power supplier in Viet Nam behind the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN).
PV Power has targeted a revenue of VND29 trillion ($1.29 billion) in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 9.3 per cent.
The Government is also enhancing the divestment from State-owned enterprises (SOEs), ranging from breweries to dairy producers. Those deals have attracted intense attention from foreign investors given that consumer spending is growing significantly in Viet Nam.
"Viet Nam is trying to speed up the restructuring of SOEs and the selling of its stake in PV Power is also a part of the activity," Tuat said.
Foreign investors are increasingly interested in purchasing Vietnamese assets as Viet Nam is one of the fastest growing economies due to its young population and rapidly increasing export turnover, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The country’ stock market is also one of Asia’s best growing markets in 2016 with the benchmark VN Index rising nearly 15 per cent during the year.
In December 2016, the Government asked international banking-finance institutions to participate in the equitisation of Viet Nam’s largest brewer Sai Gon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco), which was valued at $6 billion. The divestment will begin in April, according to Tuat.
Besides, the Government also plans to sell 82 per cent of its ownership in the third largest brewery, the Ha Noi Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Habeco). Also in December 2016, the Government sold five per cent of its 45 per cent stake in the biggest dairy firm Vinamilk to the Singapore-listed F&N Dairy Investment Pte Ltd for more than $500 million. — VNS