State capital divestment from brewers urged to be sped up
State capital at the two brewers, Saigon Alcohol-Beer-Beverage JSC (Sabeco) and Hanoi Alcohol-Beer-Beverage JSC (Habeco), may soon be transferred to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC).
Saigon Beer, a product of Sabeco (Photo: vneconomictimes.com)
Hanoi (VNA) — State capital at the two brewers, SaigonAlcohol-Beer-Beverage JSC (Sabeco) and Hanoi Alcohol-Beer-Beverage JSC(Habeco), may soon be transferred to the State Capital Investment Corporation(SCIC).
This has been proposed by the Ministry of Finance’s Agency of CorporateFinance. The two brewers are currently under the management of the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade (MoIT).
The proposal was made at a press conference on equitisation and divestment ofState-owned enterprises (SOEs) held by the finance ministry on September 27.
This is one of the solutions given by the agency in order to speed upequitisation and divestment of SOEs in the last three months, to ensure therevenue target of 60 trillion VND (2.64 billion USD) is met by the end of thisyear.
The agency has asked MoIT to accelerate the divestment from Sabeco and Habecoand finish the transfer of State capital to the Support Fund for EnterpriseReorganisation and Development before December 1, 2017.
In case MoIT cannot announce the prospectus for divestments in the twocompanies by the end of this month, the ministry should seek the PrimeMinister’s instruction on handing over the State capital ownership to SCIC.
The divestment of Sabeco and Habeco, the two biggest local brewers in Vietnam,has attracted significant attention in the market. MoIT holds 89.59 percent ofSabeco’s charter capital and is expected to sell 53.59 percent.
In Habeco, the ministry plans to offload its entire holding of 81.79 percent.
Sabeco is the leading beer producer in terms of market share, holding 40 percentof local beer consumption. Heineken came second, with a 25 percent marketshare, followed by Habeco, with 18 percent.
Carlsberg is a strategic shareholder in Habeco, with a holding of 17.51 percent.The Danish beer maker has shown interest to purchase 51 percent of Habeco’sstakes. After nine negotiations, the two sides have yet to reach an agreementon the selling price but Carlsberg still retains priority over the right tonegotiate with Habeco when the State makes the divestment.
Meanwhile, many foreign investors are keen on Sabeco’s stakes, includingJapan’s Asahi Group, Thailand’s Singha, Kirin, Heineken and Anheuser-BuschInBev.-VNA
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Saigon Beer, a product of Sabeco (Photo: vneconomictimes.com) 
