A number of Vietnamese businesses are making ambitious plans to list their shares on overseas stock exchanges, which is forecast as a new trend of business in 2007.
The first shot was fired in mid-March when the Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings Limited fund managed by the Indochina Capital Advisors Ltd. Co under the Indochina Capital Group made its initial public offering (IPO) successfully on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Earlier, three other Vietnamese funds, including Vietnam Opportunity Fund, VinaLand and Vietnam Holdings, listed on LSE's Alternative Investment Market for smaller and growing companies.
On May 2006, Cavico, a construction and investment company, became the first Vietnamese company to have its shares traded on the OTC Prink Sheets of the US by merging with a Prink Sheets listed company, Agent155 Media Group.
Following these companies, the Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Corporation (Vinamilk) has presented to the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) its plan to issue 8.85 million shares worth 88.52 billion VND (5.53 million USD) on Singapore's stock exchange in June. The plan is expected to be approved at the shareholders' meeting late this month.
The Finance Promoting Technology (FPT) Corporation, another blue-chip listed at the HSTC, is also considering a plan to post up its shares abroad and the Singaporean market is a likely choice.
About 50 other companies, including big names such as the Sai Gon Securities Incorporation (SSI), the Refrigeration Electronic Engineering Company (REE), the Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank), the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and the Trung Nguyen Coffee Company, are also studying conditions for listing abroad.
However, according to HSTC Vice Director Le Hai Tra, there are a lot of difficulties for many Vietnamese businesses to be listed on overseas markets. He cited the fees for listing and finance to maintain presence on listing boards as two big barriers.
The fee for listing on LSE is 30,000 USD per year, said an official from the market.
Another barrier is high requirements by overseas stock exchange. For example, to be eligible to list on Singapore's stock market a business must have at least 1,000 shareholders, earn an annual post-tax profit of at least 7.5 million USD for the most recent three years, and meet auditing standards of Singapore or the US.
Source: VNA
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