A customer buys Neptune cooking oil at Co.opMart Đinh Tiên Hoàng in HCM City. Vocarimex holds 24 per cent capital in Cái Lân Vegetable Oil Co Ltd, the owner of well-known brands such as Neptune. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phương

HÀ NỘI — The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has announced it will sell its 36.3 per cent stake, or 44.2 million shares, in the Việt Nam Vegetable Oils Industry Corporation (VOC).

Interested investors must register to buy the whole lot, according to the Hà Nội Stock Exchange.

The initial price of each VOC share will be VNĐ22,690 (US$0.97), which means SCIC could expect to receive a minimum of VNĐ1 trillion ($43 million) after the divestment.

The auction will be held at 2:30pm on November 4 at the Hà Nội Stock Exchange. 

VOC, or Vocarimex, was founded in 1976. The firm was equitised in 2011 and transformed into a joint stock company in 2014 with initial charter capital of VNĐ1.2 trillion. It began trading on the UPCoM in 2016.

Vocarimex is one of the giants in the cooking oil industry as it owns edible oil brands such as Voca, Soby, Ruby, Sun Go and holds 24 per cent capital in Cái Lân Vegetable Oil Co Ltd, the owner of well-known brands such as Neptune, Simply, Meizan and Cái Lân.

Vocarimex is also a major shareholder of Tường An Vegetable Oil Joint Stock Company, holding 26.5 per cent capital, Kido Nhà Bè Cooking Oil Co Ltd, holding 49 per cent capital, LG Cosmetics Co Ltd with 40 per cent capital and Vegetable Oil Packaging Joint Stock Company with 51 per cent capital.

Vocarimex reported VNĐ110 billion after-tax profit in the first six months of 2020, up from VNĐ99 billion profit in the same period in 2019. January-June revenue was VNĐ1.37 trillion, up from VNĐ1.3 trillion from a year ago.

Việt Nam’s leading food company Kido Corporation is Vocarimex's biggest shareholder, holding a 51 per cent stake or nearly 62.12 million shares. SCIC's 36.3 per cent stake, or 44.21 million shares, makes it the second largest shareholder.

SCIC is a government agency set up to restructure State-owned enterprises to make them more efficient and to enable the state to consolidate capital in key sectors.

In August 2019, SCIC conducted a divestment auction in Vocarimex with a starting price of VNĐ22,300 per share, but it was unsuccessful as there were no investors participating.

The market price at that time was only VNĐ15,600 per share, equivalent to 70 per cent of the starting price. Observers said that in the context of the lack of prosperity in Vocarimex’s business picture, the starting price of SCIC did not attract the attention of investors. — VNS