Vietnam to auction up to US$5b Sabeco stake today
HO CHI MINH CITY/SINGAPORE: Vietnam is set to auction an up to US$5 billion (RM20.45 billion) stake in top brewer Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco) today, with Thai Beverage the only potential bidder to have expressed interest in a majority stake.
The keenly anticipated sale of the state-owned maker of Bia Saigon gained momentum in recent months after being hampered for years by political resistance, fickle policy-making and complications over valuations.
The government has set a minimum sale price of 320,000 dong (RM57.67) a share for Sabeco, whose shares have nearly trebled to 309,200 dong since its listing a year ago.
Thai Beverage, through a partly-owned Vietnam unit, is the only company which has expressed interest in owning more than 25 per cent of the company, which has roughly 40 per cent of the Vietnamese market.
So far no formal bid had been made. Vietnam’s young population and booming economy should make Sabeco an attractive asset for global brewers hoping to expand in Southeast Asia, but a high minimum bid price and foreign ownership limits appear to have turned off potential buyers.
Sabeco’s foreign ownership is capped at 49 per cent. With 10 per cent already in foreign hands, that leaves only 39 per cent on the table for overseas buyers at today’s auction. Local bidders can bid for a majority stake of up to 54 per cent while Heinken holds a five per cent stake.
“There’s a disconnect between what the government wants to achieve and how international brewers view this auction,” said one person familiar with the matter. Reuters