Platinum Victory Pte. Ltd, a whollyowned subsidiary of Singapore-based automotive group Jardine Cycle and Carriage (JC&C), has registered to purchase an additional 14.51 million shares of Viet Nam’s largest dairy producer Vinamilk.

The purchase will be made via order-matching transactions or through the Viet Nam Securities Depository (VSD) between May 9 and June 7, 2018.

If the transaction is successful, Platinum Victory will hold 160.1 million shares of Vinamilk, equivalent to 11.03 per cent ownership of the company.

At the end of the trading session on May 7, the market price of Vinamilk’s shares was VND190,000 (US$8.33) per share. At this price, Platinum Victory will have to spend some VND2.76 trillion to increase its ownership in Vinamilk.

Platinum Victory is currently the third-largest shareholder of Vinamilk, following State Capital Investment Corporation of Viet Nam with 36 per cent and Singapore’s food and beverages company Fraser and Neave Ltd with 20 per cent.

JC&C, a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson, has been present in Viet Nam for over a decade. It now owns a 25.1 per cent stake in automobile producer Thaco and nearly 25 per cent in Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation.

In addition to operating in real estate, hotel and financial services, Jardine Matheson, the parent company of JC&C, holds shares of many franchise brands in Viet Nam, such as KFC and Pizza Hut. — VNS