Masan, Korea’s CJ vie for 14% in Vietnam’s food major Vissan

Vietnam’s homegrown diversified conglomerate  Masan Group will be competing with South Korea’s CJ Cheiljedang Corp (CJ) in a bid to acquire strategic 14 per cent stake in food processor Vissan – the latest of the state-owned companies to have had an IPO as part of the ongoing privatisation spiral.  .

Vissan general director Van Duc Muoi, in an interview with local press, revealed that Vietnam French Cattle Feed JSC (Proconco) and Agro Nutrition Company (Anco), two subsidiaries that Masan had acquired last year, have each submitted bids for the entire equity interest (14 per cent) that the Vissan is offering at the auction .

CJ, whose interest in Vissan was reported by DEALSTREETASIA in April 2015, has also done the same, according to Muoi. That means the shares are oversubscribed by three times.

A communication official from CJ confirmed to DEALSTREETASIA that the South Korean group will join the bidding( for Vissan), while Masan is yet to respond to mail sent to them.

The auction for the strategic stakes will be organised on March 24. Vissan’s first shareholder meeting will follow a month later.

The state-owned food major raised $41 million during its IPO earlier on March 7 for 14 per cent equity. While the reference price for the IPO had been set at VND17,000 ($0.75) apiece, the shares were sold for an average of over VND80,000, which surprised Muoi.

Foreign buyers took up 4 per cent of the company. Post the IPO, the state remains the largest shareholder with a 65 per cent stake.

Vissan is a unit of the Saigon Trading Group, which is also slated to conduct an IPO within the next couple of years.

In an earlier report, Jay Hyun Lee, chairman of CJ, said that Vietnam had an important role in the South Korean group’s global expansion strategy, as it will be the connection with the Cambodian, Lao and Myanmar markets.

Meanwhile, Masan is diversifying its protein platform and value chain after taking over 70 per cent of Anco and 52 per cent of Proconco.

Khoa Le

Source: Deal Street Asia