The Singapore-based automotive group, Jardine Cycle and Carriage (JC&C), has made additional purchases of Vinamilk’s shares after its maiden US$616.6m investment on 10th November, increasing its ownership in Vietnam’s largest dairy producer to 10 per cent.

 

According to the group’s recent announcement, Platinum Victory Pte. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JC&C, has made further on-market purchases to additionally acquire nearly 16.5 million shares from Vinamilk, representing approximately 1.1 per cent of the issued share capital of Vinamilk.

 

Following the acquisition, the JC&C group now has an aggregate interest in nearly 145.6 million Vinamilk shares, representing approximately 10 per cent of Vinamilk’s issued share capital.

 

On 10th November, JC&C beat other bidders to purchase a 3.33 per cent stake in Vinamilk from the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) at an open auction on the HCM Stock Exchange. It also acquired another 2.2 per cent stake via order-matching transactions to bring its holding to up to 5.53 per cent.

 

Currently, JC&C is the third-largest shareholder of Vinamilk, after SCIC with 36 per cent and Singapore’s food and beverages company Fraser&Neave, with 18.74 per cent.

 

Foreign investors hold a combined 56.44 per cent of Vinamilk. The firm’s market capitalisation reached VNĐ265.88 trillion (US$11.71bn) on Friday (17th November) morning, rising 7.45 per cent from the US$10.9bn value on 10th November when the automotive major made the first investment in Vinamilk.

 

JC&C, a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson, has been present in Vietnam for over a decade. It now owns a 25.1 per cent stake in automobile producer, Thaco, and nearly 23 per cent in the Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE Corp).

 

In addition to operating in real estate, hotel and financial services, Jardine Matheson, the parent company of JC&C, also holds shares of many franchise brands in Vietnam such as KFC and Pizza Hut.