Carlsberg has completed its acquisition of an extra 1.75 million shares from Ha Noi Beer Alcohol and Beverage Co (Habeco), raising its total stakes in the company to 15.77 per cent. This acquisition represented a 5.77 per cent stake among the shares left over from Habeco’s under-subscribed initial public offering at the end of March 2008.
Henrik Andersen, Carlsberg’s director in Indochina, said that his company wanted to buy more than 5.77 per cent.
Andersen also said that Carlsberg and Habeco came to a good understanding of each other’s business practices before Habeco’s auction. By then, he knew how well the local firm worked and the potential of the beverage market in Viet Nam.
He said that their payment of VND50,000 for each stock of 1.75 million was reasonable in comparison to the prices from other regional beer and beverage producers from which Carlsberg had bought stakes.
Habeco’s general director Nguyen Van Viet said that Carlsberg’s further acquisition would depend on common trends in the stock market and the Government’s decision.
Thanks to Carlsberg’s long commitment, the company will have opportunities to expand its export markets and promote the products’ quality in the near future, Viet added.
Habeco this year hopes to earn a profit of VND340.8 billion (US$21.3 million) and a revenue of VND2.82 trillion ($176.3 million). Its share yesterday was traded at VND30,000 in the over-the-counter market
