The Singaporean fund Ardolis Investment Pte Ltd has raised its ownership in the consumer staple firm Masan Group Corporation to 5.67 per cent with more than 65.9 million shares from the previous 4.47 per cent.

Ardolis Investment Pte Ltd on February 14 purchased nearly 14 million shares to increase its stake in Masan Group, the fund said in a statement sent to the State Securities Commission and the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

On February 14, around 14 million Masan shares were traded via put-through transactions at average VND84,000 (US$3.6) per share.

At that price level, Ardolis Investment Pte Ltd spent around VND1.17 trillion ($50.4 million) buying Masan shares.

The Government of Singapore – ultimate beneficial owner of Ardolis Investment Pte Ltd – is also holding more than 52.4 million shares in Masan.

Ardolis Investment Pte Ltd’s latest deal has increased the stake of the Government of Singapore in Masan to more than 118.3 million shares, equal to 10.18 per cent of the firm’s total shares.

Masan is among the largest food and beverage producers in Viet Nam and has lured attention from foreign investors.

In early October 2018, the South Korea-based SK Group bought 110 million treasury shares of Masan Group for nearly VND11 trillion (VND100,000 per share), making it the largest shareholder in the Vietnamese firm.

In 2018, Masan recorded a slight annual increase in its net revenue, which reached VND38.2 trillion. Its post-tax profit was VND5.62 trillion in 2018.

Masan shares are traded on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange with code MSN. The firm’s shares fell 0.6 per cent to end Wednesday at VND86,000 per share after having gained total 2.1 per cent in the first two trading days of the week. — VNS