F&N eyes increased stakes in Vinamilk

It currently holds 10.95% stake in Vietnams largest dairy company.

Frase & Neave announced earlier this week that its two wholly owned subsidiaries, F&N Dairy Investments and F&NBev Manufacturing, have participated in the competitive bid process to each acquire 39.2m Vinamilk shares or 2.7% in the issued share capital of Vinamilk from the Vietnamese Government.

According to RHB, F&N currently holds a 10.95% stake in Vinamilk worth $1.4bn.

"Should it be successful in its bid for the additional 5.4% stake in Vinamilk costing another $700m, it would have raised its investment in Vinamilk to over $2bn," the firm said.

Vinamilk is Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange's largest company by market capitalisation and it is also the largest dairy company in Vietnam and one of the fastest growing companies due to its strong distribution network and rising consumption of dairy products in the country.

"The proposed acquisition of additional stock in Vinamilk is in line with F&N's to grow back into a regional F&B powerhouse after earlier selling its stakes in brewers Asia Pacific Breweries and Myanmar Brewery due to the takeover of F&N by TCC/Thai Bev," RHB noted.

It added, "We expect the company to remain on the lookout for acquisition opportunities in the region to complement its strong position in the diary and soft drinks in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand."