Japan’s Taisho Pharmaceutical Co Ltd has proposed increasing its ownership in DHG Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company by 21.7 per cent.

According to DHG Pharmaceutical, the Japanese firm has made a public offer to purchase more than 28.35 million shares.

The offered price is VND120,000 (US$5.16) per share, putting the value of the deal at an estimated VND3.4 trillion ($146.2 million).

Taisho will use its available cash to carry out the deal.

Taisho currently owns more than 45.76 million shares in DHG Pharmaceutical, equal to a nearly 35 per cent stake.

If the deal is successfully executed, Taisho will raise its ownership in DHG Pharmaceutical to nearly 56.7 per cent, or more than 74 million shares.

DHG Pharmaceutical has more than 130.7 million shares listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange with code DHG.

The firm’s shares edged up 0.3 per cent to end Wednesday at VND119,000 per share.

The company’s share price has jumped 40 per cent since February 11 and nearly 62 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Taisho first invested in DHG Pharmaceutical in May 2016 by purchasing a 24.4 per cent stake for $100 million.

The Japanese firm made two more purchases of DHG Pharmaceutical shares in 2018 that increased its ownership, first to 24.9 per cent and then to 35 per cent.

In July 2018, the State Securities Commission approved DHG Pharmaceutical’s request to lift the foreign ownership bar from the 49 per cent limit.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) – the representative of the Government that controls State capital in local companies – is the largest shareholder at DHG Pharmaceutical with a 43.3 per cent stake.

DHG Pharmaceutical is the largest Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm by market capitalisation and revenue.

As of the end of trading on Wednesday, the market value of DHG Pharmaceutical was more than VND15.5 trillion.

In 2018, DHG Pharmaceutical reported nearly VND3.9 trillion in total revenue and VND651.6 billion in post-tax profit.

Its full-year revenue fulfilled 97 per cent of the target and was 4 per cent lower than the 2017 figure. Meanwhile, its post-tax profit rose slightly from the 2017 number of VND642 billion. — VNS