Arnolis Investment Pte, a Singaporean government-run investment fund, has bought an additional of 27.41 million shares of Masan Group, one of Vietnam’s largest privately-run conglomerates, thus becoming its second largest foreign shareholder after South Korea’s SK Group.
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In October, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund bought roughly half of US-based KKR & Co.’s 4.7% stake in Masan worth VND2.18 trillion (US$95 million).
It purchased the stock as part of a placement by KKR, which offloaded its entire holding in a US$209 million deal, Bloomberg reported.
KKR was exiting its Masan investment after shares of the Vietnamese conglomerate more than doubled. The private equity firm sold 54.8 million Masan shares at VND89,200 (US$3.84) apiece, the midpoint of a marketed range.
On October 2, South Korean’s third largest conglomerate SK Group purchased 110 million Masan treasury shares in a deal worth US$470 million. The group now holds 9.5% stake of the Vietnamese conglomerate and becomes its largest foreign shareholder.
In the stock market, Masan’s share was valued at VND84,300 (US$3.6) apiece at the close on November 9.
With a strong balance sheet, Masan said it would add up to US$50 million of net earnings for full year 2019. Management expected core net profit after tax to jump by at least 50% for the fiscal year of 2018 and forecast similar base case earnings growth momentum for 2019 as each of its core business continues to deliver on its growth plans.
Masan plans to consolidate cash at the group level by up-streaming free cash flows from its subsidiaries to build a strategic investment war chest and/or return capital to shareholders. The company does not intend to issue additional shares to investors over the next three years.
