Japan’s Taisho Pharmaceutical Co Ltd will continue attempting to purchase the Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG)’s stakes after the Vietnamese company lifted the cap on foreign ownership to 100 per cent.

The Japanese investor registered to buy three million DHG shares, equivalent to 2.3 per cent of DHG’s capital, from October 2-31. Transactions will be made through order matching or negotiation.

At the price of VND100,000 (US$4.29) per share on September 28, Taisho is expected to spend around VND300 billion on the purchase.

If the deal is successful, Taisho’s ownership in DHG will increase from 32 per cent to 34.3 per cent.

In August, Taisho also acquired more than 9.2 million DHG shares, or 7.6 per cent stake, after the Vietnamese drug company relaxed its cap on foreign ownership to 100 per cent.

Taisho will remain DHG’s second-largest stakeholder after the deal, following Viet Nam’s sovereign fund, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), which holds 43.31 per cent stake.

Taisho Pharmaceutical has charter capital of 29.8 billion yen, equivalent to over VND6 trillion ($257.5 million). It focuses on manufacturing, trading pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

In related development, Templeton Frontier Markets Fund sold three million DHG shares on August 21, which cut its ownership to 4.1 per cent from 6.4 per cent and means it is no longer a DHG major shareholder.

DHG, founded in 1974, is one of Viet Nam’s leading pharmaceutical companies. It reported net profit of VND104 billion in the first half of this year, down more than 82 per cent from the same period of last year.

Its shares, coded DHG on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, have fallen 13 per cent in value this year. — VNS