Genco 3 puts up over 267 million shares, equivalent to nearly 12.84 percent of its charter capital for sale in the IPO. (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Only 3 percentof a total of 267 million shares offered in the initial public offering (IPO)of Power Generation Corporation 3 (Genco 3) on February 9 were soldsuccessfully, a poor result given the high market expectations before the sale.
Genco 3 put up over 267 million shares,equivalent to nearly 12.84 percent of its charter capital, for sale in the IPOon the HCM Stock Exchange but only 7.45 million shares, or 3 percent of thetotal shares, were purchased.
About 336 investors, including 16foreigners (14 individuals and two institutions), took part in the IPO.
At the average winning price of 24,802 VND (1.09USD) per share, slightly higher than the minimum bidding price of 24,600 VND ashare, Genco 3 collected 184.8 billion VND from the share sale.
Nguyen Van Le, chairman of Genco 3,attributed the poor result to the bad timing of the IPO, when the stock marketexperienced high volatility and investors increased profit-taking activityahead of Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.
Besides, investment in the power sector isusually medium- and long-term and not suitable for short-term investors,according to the Genco 3 chairman.
Power is a key sector for thesocio-economic development of the whole country so the Government is takingprudent and proper steps in the process of equitisation of power enterprises.
According to Genco 3’s equitisation roadmap,the State will retain 51 percent of stakes in Genco 3 after the IPO while only12.84 percent were offered to the public. About 36 percent will be offered tothe strategic investors.
Le said the share sale to strategicinvestors will be completed in the 2018-19 period. So far, four foreigninvestors from India, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Middle Eastregistered to become its strategic investors.
However, he also said foreign investors heldthat the sale would be conducted in a short time and they did not have enoughtime to conduct due diligence for such a big investment.
Genco 3, with a charter capital of 20.8trillion VND, is one of the three power generation corporations underElectricity of Vietnam (EVN)’s management which currently holds 51 percent ofits capital.
EVN will divest its capital at Genco 3 to lessthan controlling level after 2019 if the corporation were successful inrestructuring its debts. In 2017, it reported total revenues of 34.63 trillionVND. - VNA
VNA
