A surge in prices for beer from Vietnam’s Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. (Habeco) has been caused by speculative buying on very thin volume, claims Tayfun Uner, CEO of Carlsberg Vietnam. The postulate stated by the Danish brewery giant is the cause of heated negotiations in the South East Asian beer market. Carlsberg has previously announced that they are interested in buying a majority of Habeco’s stakes after 82 percent of them was put up for sale by the Vietnamese government for USD 404 million.
“We want to support the Vietnamese government to make a success out of this, which means obviously to get a fair price and to ensure their success of the privatization,” said Tayfun Uner.
Carlsberg has talked to the Ministry of Industry and Trade about buying 61,79 percent of the stakes with a chance to buy an additional 20 percent. Carlsberg already own 17,51 percent with the remaining 0,70 percent being held by minority shareholders – shares that have fallen 2,1 percent, along with Carlsberg’s Copenhagen-shares that have fallen 0,4 percent due to this debacle.
The Danish brewery would probably have to battle others for the last 20 percent since it’s Habeco’s intentions to put the shares up for auction.
Source: The Japan News
