Platinum Victory - a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Jardine Matheson - has registered to purchase an additional 17.41 million shares or 1% stake in Vietnam's largest dairy producer Vinamilk, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE).
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At the current market price of VND128,200 (US$5.52) a Vinamilk share, the fund would need at least VND2.23 trillion (US$96.03 million) for this deal, which is expected to be scheduled from April 25 to May 24 via put-through and/or order-matching transactions on the HoSE.
This is Platinum Victory’s latest attempt to increase its shareholding at Vinamilk, following the fund’s failure to buy the same amount of shares from March 21 to April 19, due to unfavorable market conditions.
As one of Asia's biggest conglomerates, Jardine Matheson has interest in luxury hotels, motor vehicles, property, food retailing, transport financial services and agribusiness. The group, through its subsidiaries Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) and Platinum Victory, has invested in Vietnam for many years.
Platinum Victory currently is the third largest shareholder at Vinamilk, after State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) with 36% and F&N Dairy Investment with 17.31%.
Both Platinum Victory and F&N Dairy Investment are in a race to increase their respective holdings at Vinamilk.
In late March, F&N Dairy Investment registered to purchase 17.41 million Vinamilk shares between April 3 and April 26. Since 2017, the Singaporean fund has tried dozen times buying Vinamilk shares but in vain, according to exchange announcements.
Similar to Platinum Victory, F&N Dairy Investment also failed to buy in the said amount of shares in previous attempt from March 1 to 29.
In a recent shareholders meeting, Vinamilk stated Vietnam’s dairy industry has huge potential for development, given a large-scale market with a population of over 90 million.
Currently, per capita milk consumption in Vietnam stands at 19kg/person/year, which is quite low compared to regional countries, including 22.5kg in China, 26.7kg in Malaysia, 31.7kg in Thailand, and 40.1kg in South Korea.
Vietnam's dairy industry posted revenue of over VND100 trillion (US$4.4 billion) in 2017, an increase of 10% over the previous year, with Vinamilk commanding a market share of around 55%, according to Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC).
The local dairy market is expected to double its size by 2020, reaching US$8.2 billion as Vietnam's population is projected to increase by five million people, and personal income and dairy consumption are foreseen to increase at 15% and 7% compounded annual growth rate, respectively.
