F&N Dairy Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary owned by Thai business tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has spent millions of USD to buy stakes at Vinamilk after another subsidiary bought a USD4.8bn stake in Sabeco last year.

Thai business tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi

F&N Dairy has reported to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange that it bought another nearly two million Vinamilk's shares. The transaction was carried out between December 8 to January 5. F&N Dairy now owns a 16.5% stake in Vinamilk.

Even though it registered to buy 21.77 million shares, F&N Dairy said it could not meet the target because of unfavourable market conditions. It quickly registered to continue buying another 14.51 million shares. If successful, F&N will own 17.5% of Vinamilk.

The next transaction is expected to take place from January 10 to February 8.

F&N Dairy has registered to buy Vinamilk's stake seven times but failed to meet the targets all because of unfavourable market conditions. After two decreases, Vinamilk's price dropped to VND210,000 per share. It is still 70% higher than the lowest price in early 2017.

F&N Dairy is a subsidiary of TCC Holdings owned by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. In late 2016, F&N Dairy Investments and F&NBev Manufacturing bought 5.4% of Vinamilk's stake at the price of nearly USD500m./.

VNF/Dtinews