Mekong Enterprise Fund II (MEF II) registered to sell more than 2.7 million shares of investment corporation Mobile World, in a context that prices of the shares have reached the highest level ever. Nhịp cầu Đầu tư (Investment Bridge) online reported that the US$50 million growth capital private equity fund, managed by Mekong Capital, will carry out the put-through transactions within nearly a month beginning August 19.
MEF II currently holds 9.24 per cent of Mobile World's equity, and this stake will fall to 7.39 per cent if the transactions are successful.
Shares of Mobile World closed down three points at VNĐ151,000 ($6.7) per share on August 18 on the HCM City Stock Exchange, after reaching a record high of VNĐ154,000 per share on August 17.
MEF II began investing in Mobile World in 2007, when Mobile World's share prices were around VNĐ3,900 per share.
If the prices continue to hover around August 17's peak, MEF II will collect around VNĐ415.8 billion from the share sales. This means the fund will gain a profit 40 times higher than its initial investments.
MEF II already sold 2.5 million shares of Mobile World early last month, when Mobile World's share prices reached some VNĐ130,000 per share. It gained about VNĐ325 billion from this transaction.
Established in 2001, Mekong Capital is a Việt Nam-focused private equity firm, whose investee companies are in consumer-driven sectors such as retail, restaurants, consumer products and distribution.
Mobile World runs two retailing chains, including mobile devices chain thegioididong.com and consumer electronics chain dienmay.com.
The company announced on its website that it planned to reach about VNĐ34.17 trillion in revenues this year, an increase of 26 per cent over last year.
It projected an after-tax profit of about VNĐ1.39 trillion for 2016, a year-on-year increase of 23 per cent.