Two subsidiaries of Fraser & Neave Ltd controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi each bought 39.19 million shares of Vinamilk, or a 2.7 per cent stake, at the minimum price at an auction held at the HCM Stock Exchange on December 12.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) offered 130.6 million shares, or 9 per cent, on sale at an initial price of VND144,000 (US$6.32).

F&N Dairy Investment and F&N Bev Manufacturing Pte.Ltd each was allowed to buy a maximum of 2.7 per cent stake. There were no other participants in the auction.

Before the auction, F&N Dairy Investment, one of the two Thai companies, has been Vinamilk’s largest foreign shareholder with a 11 per cent stake, and its CEO Lee Meng Tat is a member of Vinamilk’s management board.

The company has been buying Vinamilk shares since 2005.

SCIC raised VND1.286 trillion ($56.59 million) from the stake sale.

It said that, given the “vulnerable” stock markets in Southeast Asia and Việt Nam, the auction could be deemed a success especially since the shares were sold at more than a 6 per cent premium to the market price.

Nguyen Duc Chi, chairman of SCIC, said as for the outstanding shares of this offering, SCIC will continue to exercise the ownership rights and report to the Prime Minister to get approval on the next steps.

Vinamilk is the largest stock by market capitalisation in Viet Nam, with SCIC still holding more than 36 per cent.

Vinamilk shares closed yesterday at VND133,700.

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, Saigon Securities Inc and VinaCapital Corporate Finance Vietnam were the advisors for the sale of Vinamilk shares. — VNS