<article>The activity of equitising state-owned businesses has been going on for a while with some 300 companies set for the process this year. Meanwhile, various deals have taken place in LienVietPostBank, Him Lam Corporation and the Ocean Group, this week.</article>

The activity of equitising state-owned businesses has been going on for a while with some 300 companies set for the process this year. Meanwhile, various deals have taken place in LienVietPostBank, Him Lam Corporation and the Ocean Group, this week.
<h2> Vinalines’ Cam Ranh Port IPO in March</h2>
Cam Ranh Port, a member unit of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (<a style="color: #000080;" href="%20http://www.vinalines.com.vn/?lang=en" target="_blank">Vinalines</a>), will sell more than six million shares in its initial public offering (IPO) next month, the Hanoi Stock Exchange announced.
The port activities span cargo handling, warehousing and petroleum, and it is valued at VND200.57 billion ($9.4 million). After the IPO, the port’s charter capital is expected to reach VND264.5 billion ($12.4 million).
The port had earlier announced that it was seeking strategic partners from sectors like logistics, port service, banking and finance; and have not partnered (or are major shareholders in) any other port operators in the central of Vietnam. In terms of financial capability, the strategic shareholders must have a total asset of VND200 billion ($9.4 million) and a minimum equity of VND100 billion ($4.7 million) as of 2013.
Prior to Cam Ranh Port, many others companies in Vinalines, have deployed IPOs. These include Hai Phong Port, Da Nang Port, Can Tho Port and Nghe Tinh Port.
<h2>Ho Chi Minh City plans to equitise 19 SOEs</h2>
The People&#8217;s Committee in HCM City plans to equitise 19 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2015, it announced at a meeting, last week.
Speaking at the meeting, Le Manh Ha, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said 12 SOEs were equitised last year, of which 10 SOEs had launched initial public offerings, the local website <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://bizhub.vn/markets/9838/hcm-city-plans-to-equitize-19-soes.html" target="_blank">bizhub.vn</a> reported. The state capital invested in the equitised SOEs has touched VND195 billion ($9 million).
Ha noted that the city had issued preferential shares to 1,300 workers, pointing out that the city now holds 25 to 65 per cent of the charter capital in equitised SOEs.
The vice chairman said the city aims to equitise 31 SOEs between 2013 and 2015, and the provincial authorities will facilitate the equitisation process for 19 other SOEs.
<h2>Him Lam becomes LienVietPostBank&#8217;s biggest shareholder</h2>
Real estate firm <a href="http://www.himlam.com/en.html" target="_blank">Him Lam Corporation</a> has replaced Vietnam Post to become LienVietPostBank’s biggest shareholder by increasing its stake to 14.98 per cent, according to the bank’s recent report.
During the first six months of last year, Him Lam purchased some 13 million shares of LienVietPostBank and then increased the stakes by another batch of 16.4 million units in the second half of the year. As of the end of 2014, the real estate company owned a total of 96.8 million shares of the bank, or 14.98 per cent. That made an increase by 4.54 per cent compared to the beginning of the year.
Duong Cong Minh, chairman of Him Lam, is holding the same position in the bank.
Majoring in the real estate industry, Him Lam also has subsidiaries and affiliate companies to invest in other sectors, including banking and finance, entertainment services and golf course development.
The second largest stakeholder, Vietnam Post, is holding 12.54 per cent in <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.lienvietpostbank.com.vn/en/about/introduction/content/about-us-111111" target="_blank">LienVietPostBank</a>. Last year, the bank planned to offer a private placement of 18.7 million shares to Vietnam Post, but the transaction was not conducted.
The third largest shareholder is office leasing company HTH Co Ltd with a 4.95 per cent stake.
Also by the end of last year, the bank’s vice chairman Nguyen Duc Huong increased his holding from 3.32 per cent to nearly 3.4 per cent.
According to the bank’s Q3 financial statement, its total asset reached VND89.2 trillion ($4.19 billion), while revenue was over VND1.4 trillion ($65.7 million). The bank made a loss of VND20 billion ($939,000).
<h2>Ocean Group to divest units, sell real-estate projects </h2>
Financial conglomerate <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ocean+Group" target="_blank">Ocean Group (OGC)</a> has announced it will divest several of its companies and sell some of its real-estate projects, the state media <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/266244/ocean-group-to-divest-from-non-core-units.html" target="_blank">Viet Nam News</a> restated the Tri Thuc Tre publication.
The group will particularly seek buyers for the stakes it owns in Fafilm Vietnam (69 per cent) and Dai Duong Natural Resources Development (34 per cent).
Also, it no longer wishes to remain the owner of three realty projects.
The Lega Fashion House, with an expected investment capital of VND800 billion ($37.5 million) in HCM City, is a joint venture of the group with Gia Dinh Investment and Development and garment company Legamex. It was initially agreed upon that the Ocean Group will contribute 75 per cent of the investment value.
Meanwhile, a building project on Tran Khanh Du Street, Ha Noi, valued at VND774 billion ($36.3 million), will also be sold by the Ocean Group. Another project in Ha Noi that the group is selling is the HH–StarCity Centre.
In September 2014, the Ocean Group had also sold its retail arm–Ocean Retail–to property giant <a href="http://www.vingroup.net/en-us/home.aspx" target="_blank">Vingroup</a>. The supermarket chain owned by Ocean Retail was later renamed VinMart.
OGC shares have been continuously declining since Ha Van Tham, former chairman of OceanBank, was arrested for regulatory violations. The company’s stock reached just VND5,200 ($0.24) on Friday.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Company, the group is making the sales to collect money for its debt payments.

The activity of equitising state-owned businesses has been going on for a while with some 300 companies set for the process this year.

VN Dealbook: SOEs, Him Lam, Ocean Group

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