First private equity in telecom network

[xiuchic]

The State Capital Investment Corporation, the nation's sovereign fund, has completed the sale of a 15.3-per-cent stake in the CMC Telecom Infrastructure Corporation to an undisclosed buyer, raising over VND15.6 billion (US$742,800), a representative of the CMC Investment Co has told the publication Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) on condition of anonymity.

With the sale, CMC Telecom became the first privately-held company in Viet Nam to own and operate telecommunications network infrastructure.

"Private telecommunications infrastructure companies are an indispensable development trend on the market," said the director of the Ministry of Information and Communications' telecommunications department, Pham Hong Hai.

In the three years since its establishment in 2009, CMC Telecom has yet to turn a profit. Accumulated losses as of the end of last year totalled VND73.9 billion ($3.5 million), equal to 108.69 per cent of the company's equity.

However, Bao Viet Securities Co analysts predicted that CMC Telecom was in a position to continue operating effectively for the next few years, targeting a net profit this year of VND13.6 billion ($647,600).

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is also preparing to divest from mobile services provider FPT Telecom, an affiliate of technology services provider FP T. FPT said it would purchase the 50.7-per-cent controlling interest in FPT Telecom that SCIC currently held. FPT Telecom's profit contributed 29 per cent to the overall gross profit of FPT in the first quarter of this year, and the figure was 31 per cent for last year.

Foreign investors have also begun to show increasing interest in telecommunications stocks. Malaysia's Maybank Kim Eng Securities became a major shareholder in Van Lang Technology after buying 56,000 shares, increasing its holdings to 5.58 per cent of the company. An individual foreign investor has also purchased 6,000 shares in Van Lang Technology (VLA), representing a 5.48-per-cent stake.