Theannouncement, made at the Kido Frozen Foods Joint Stock Company (Kido Foods)’sannual general meeting in HCM City on June 9, said the two companies had signed a memorandum ofunderstanding to set up a joint venture, Vinamilk-Kido Beverage Joint VentureCompany Ltd (Vibev), with Vinamilk holding 51 percent and KDC owning 49percent.
KidoFoods is a subsidiary of KIDO Group. Thejoint venture will explore the beverages and ice-cream markets.
Sharingabout the joint venture, Mai XuanTram, Deputy General Dirctor of KDC, said the mission of the newcompany is to build strong brands for Vietnamese beverages and offer consumersa wide choice of modern tastes while ensuring nutrition, quality and safety.
KDCsaid its first products would be introduced soon, possibly in the thirdquarter.
Tram said the two companies have strongdistribution channels with over 1,000,000 pointsof sales.
Thejoint venture will also untilise Vinamilk’s export network in 30 countries andhelp the two companies better control of raw material prices, he said.
Thepartners expect the joint venture to grab a 50 percent share of the domesticice-cream market.
Atthe meeting on June 9, Tran Le Nguyen, General Director of KIDO Group, announced that moremember companies, including Tuong AnVegetable Oil Joint Stock Company (TAC), Vietnam Vegetable Oils Industry Corporation (Vocarimex) and Kido Foods,would merge with the KIDO Group.
Shareholders of Kido Foods votedyes to the merging plan into KIDO Group.
KidoFoods sought its shareholders’ approval for a merger with KIDO Group to betterexploit the parent company’s financial and managerial advantages.
Accordingto the merger plan, the swap ratio will be 1:1.3, or one share of Kido Foodsfor 1.3 shares of KIDO Group.
Afterthe merger, Kido Foods will become a one-member limited liability company whollyowned by KIDO Group.
Thenew shares will be listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.
Talkingabout the merger at the meeting, Nguyen Thi Kim Lieu, Deputy General Director of KIDO Group, attributed it toboth internal and external reasons.
KidoFoods had achieved good growth but failed to meet targets due to the lack ofresources.
“Theglobal economy is volatile due to epdidemics, trade wars, climate change.”
Therethis is a restructuring of global supply chains, offering Vietnam an opportunity, she said.
Furthermore,consumer habits are changing, forcing companies to adjust their businessmodels, she said.
“Withstrong financial, strategic and human resources, KIDO Group has the capacity tosupport Kido Foods’ development.”
KidoFoods reported revenues of 1.38 trillion VND (59.2 million USD) in 2019, up 10 percent. The pre-taxprofit was 185 billion VND (7.9million USD), up 488 percent.
In2020, the company targets revenuesof 1.6 trillion VND (68.7million USD) and profits of 200 billion VND (8.6 million USD)./.