Three entities have just announced that they have become major shareholders of Petrolimex Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PGBank) since April 13. Specifically, Gia Linh Import-Export and Trade Development Company Limited has purchased more than 39.2 million PGB shares (13.1% of capital), Cuong Phat International Joint Stock Company has purchased more than 40.6 million PGB shares (13.54%), and Vu Anh Duc Trading Joint Stock Company has purchased more than 40 million PGB shares (13.36%).
In total, these three enterprises hold exactly 120 million PGB shares, equivalent to 40% of PGBank's capital, which the Vietnam National Petroleum Group successfully auctioned on April 7, with a total winning price of VND2,568 billion, an average of VND21,400/share.
The identities of these investors are attracting great attention from investors.
For many years, PGBank, although 40% owned by Petrolimex, has been a discreet member of TNG Holdings. The group of businessman Nguyen Anh Tuan and his wife Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong has long introduced PGBank as an affiliated company on its website. Many senior personnel of MSB have also moved to take on important positions in the PGBank apparatus, including the Board of Directors, Executive Board, and Supervisory Board.
The TNG Holdings group's footprint at PGBank is huge. At PGBank's annual general meeting of shareholders on April 25, two individuals related to this group represented about 153 million shares, equivalent to a 51% majority at PGBank.
This dominant ownership structure explains why many banks have wanted to merge with PGBank but failed, from Vietinbank, to MB and then HDBank . In particular, the merger of PGBank into HDBank was even approved by the State Bank.
PGB stock price movement (Source: TradingView).
That close relationship also explains why when Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) - a member of TNG Holdings proactively announced the merger of a bank recently, many people assumed that the merged name was PGBank.
However, MSB shareholders at the annual general meeting held on April 21 did not approve this proposal. MSB senior leaders themselves also confirmed that they did not know the specific content of the merger plan.
See more >>> MSB shareholders do not approve bank merger, question dividend payment
Subsequent developments showed that MSB not only did not seem to have a plan to merge with PGBank, but the owners of TNG Holdings decided to sell PGBank to a new investor.
In the last 4 consecutive trading sessions, 79.5 million shares, equivalent to 26.5% of PGBank's capital, were traded by agreement on the UpCOM floor with a total value of nearly VND 2,200 billion, equivalent to an average of VND 27,500/share.
So, who is the new owner of PGBank?
There have been rumors about a major corporation in the automobile industry acquiring PGBank. At the shareholders’ meeting on the morning of April 25, in response to this question from shareholders, PGBank Chairman Nguyen Quang Dinh only gave a brief answer: The list of successful bidders does not include the name of this corporation.
However, according to Nguoi Dua Tin 's own source, many businesses that bought the auctioned shares of Petrolimex, and of course the resold shares of TNG Holdings group, to complete the control of PGBank, have many special connections.
More specifically, the three legal entities that purchased the entire 40% auction lot of PGBank are Cuong Phat International JSC, Vu Anh Duc Trading JSC and Gia Linh Import-Export and Trade Development LLC.
In particular, Vu Anh Duc Trading JSC updated to the middle of last year had Mr. Vu Van Nhuan as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Nhuan was at that time the Director of TCHB Company Limited - a subsidiary of TC Viet Hung Technology Complex Industrial Park JSC.
PGBank Chairman of the Board of Directors Nguyen Quang Dinh at the annual General Meeting of Shareholders on the morning of April 25.
For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Cuong Phat International JSC, Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, is a founding shareholder of PL International JSC - a legal entity owned by businessman Nguyen Anh Tuan's family, in which Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang - Mr. Tuan's younger brother owns 40%; Ms. Nguyen Hong Hanh, Mr. Thang's wife, owns 50%.
On April 20, 2023, Cuong Phat completed increasing its charter capital from VND 10 billion to VND 882 billion - approximately the amount this enterprise spent to win the auction for 40.6 million PGB shares.
As one of the largest and most financially capable private corporations in Vietnam in the automobile sector, owning a bank not only completes the massive business ecosystem, but is also an important step to further elevate the group's owners.
Before PGBank, this group "entered" Eximbank in 2018 and publicly owned nearly 13% of EIB shares and had 2 representatives on the Board of Directors. However, this group divested at the end of last year, and withdrew from Eximbank's Board of Directors at the beginning of this year, making way for a secretive but potential private group from the Northeast region .
Hieu Minh
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