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Apr 24, 2018 / 10:52

VOF to divest stake in VinaSquare

Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF), VinaCapital`s flagship fund, has divested its entire stake holdings in the VinaSquare project in central Danang for US$7.9 million, according to the fund`s latest announcement on April 23.

This transaction results in total cash proceeds of US$7.9 million to VOF at 10.1% above the carrying value at March 31. 
 
VinaSquare project.
VinaSquare project.
The cash has not been collected in full. VOF has already received 91% of proceeds, with the remainder expected by July 2018, the fund said in the announcement. 
VinaSquare was a joint venture with VinaCapital's real estate investment VinaLand, in which VinaLand held 75% and VOF held the remaining 25% stake. 
Last year, VinaLand divested its stake in the Ho Chi Minh City-located VinaSquare project to Tri Duc Real Estate Company for VND936 billion (US$41.2 million). 
VinaCapital's vehicle acquired VinaSquare, a three-hectare project, in 2007. One year later, Vina Alliances Co Ltd was established to develop VinaSquare, which was estimated to cost US$210 million. The company has a charter capital of US$55 million, with 62% of the equity owned by VinaCapital. 
"This divestment is in accordance with the current stated policy to divest projects in a controlled and orderly manner, and steady progress has been made with further pipeline disposals," said David Blackhall, managing director of VinaLand. 
Launched in 2003, VinaCapital VOF is a Guernsey-domiciled, closed-ended investment company. VOF's investment objective is to achieve medium to long-term returns through investment either in Vietnam or in companies with a substantial majority of their assets, operations, revenues or income in, or derived from, Vietnam.
VOF is managed by VinaCapital, an entity managed and regulated in Vietnam by the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, a member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
Since the beginning of the year, VOF has made multiple investments in businesses benefiting from strong domestic growth. Last month, it invested US$10 million in Ricons Construction Investment JSC, a subsidiary of the country's leading developer Cotec Construction Joint Stock Company (CotecCons). 
In February, VOF invested US$32.5 million to acquire a significant minority stake in Ba Huan JSC, the country's leading eggs and poultry meat producer. 
VinaCapital's flagship fund earlier also invested approximately US$45 million into two subsidiaries of PetroVietnam - PV Power and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) - as part of their initial public offerings (IPOs) conducted in January.