Bridge Sec says $13 mln Vietnam HASECO deal fails

South Korean brokerage Bridge Securities Co. Ltd. said on Friday its $13 million deal to buy a stake in Hai Phong Securities Co. (HASECO) (HPC) had broken down because the Vietnamese firm had not met certain preconditions to the sale.

Bridge Securities signed a contract on June 30 to purchase 20 percent of the Vietnamese securities firm for about 12 billion won ($12.9 million) by subscribing to new HASECO shares.

"Not alone lack of cooperation in the due diligence process on Hai Phong Securities, preconditions to participating in its rights offering had not been fully met," the South Korean company said in a filing to the Korea Exchange.

"Despite Bridge Securities' demand to correct them, Hai Phong had failed in fulfilling the contract, so we cancelled the share-purchase contract."

However, Bridge said it will continue efforts to team up with or buy Vietnamese brokerages, without elaborating.

Shares of Bridge Securities tumbled 7.67 percent to close at 6,740 won prior to the disclosure, as Seoul shares had their biggest fall in three years.

Source: Reuters

Bridge Sec to buy Vietnam HASECO stake for $13 mln

South Korean brokerage Bridge Securities Co. Ltd. said on Monday it will buy a 20 percent stake in Vietnam's Hai Phong Securities Co. (HASECO, HPC) for $13 million.

"We signed a contract for the strategic investment on June 30 and will buy 4 million shares out of 15 million new shares to be issued by Hai Phong Securities Joint Stock Company," Bridge said in a filing with the Financial Supervisory Commission.

The share purchase will cost 12 billion won ($13.01 million), it added.

The Vietnamese securities firm said on June 19 that it aimed to raise up to 350 billion dong ($21.7 million) by selling new shares in July. It has a chartered capital of 50 billion dong.Bridge Securities, led by Chief Executive Ly Sang-jun, who has said he had a royal Vietnamese ancestor, has been setting its sights on Vietnam to strike deals related to the privatisation of state-owned companies.

Its parent firm, Golden Bridge Finance Group, planned to raise $300 million in project funds to invest in Vietnam this year, Ly told Reuters in an interview in March.

HASECO shares were quoted at 72,400 dong, down 7.9 percent.

Source: Reuters

Securities broker Haseco to raise $22 mln in share issue

Vietnam securities brokerage Haseco (HPC) said on Tuesday it aimed to raise up to 350 billion dong ($22 million) by selling 14.25 million new shares next month.

Haseco, which has a chartered capital of 50 billion dong, would sell 5 million of the shares to existing shareholders at the share's face value of 10,000 dong, Chairman Vu Duong Hien said in a statement.

Another 5 million shares would be sold to strategic investors at a price not lower than 86,000 dong per share.

Staff of the Haiphong-based brokerage will be entitled to buy 250,000 shares at a price not higher than those sold to strategic investors.

The timing of the sale of the remaining 4 million shares would be decided later depending on market demand, Hien said.

Haseco shares ended 0.85% down on Tuesday at 156,500 dong ($9.7) on the Hanoi OTC market, valuing the firm at $48.5 million.

Source: Reuters