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Vietnam orders Mekong Housing Bank to sell shares
Mekong Housing Bank was ordered by Vietnam’s government to sell shares this year, according to a statement posted on the government’s website.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung chose Dec. 31, 2008, as the starting date for evaluating the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank’s businesses, a preparatory step for its initial public offering, the statement said.
The government’s sales of shares in state-owned companies, part of a two-decade-old process of shifting to a market-based economy, lagged behind schedule last year following the 67 percent slump in the stock market. Local companies including Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam and Vietnam Bank for Industry & Trade plan to list shares this year.
Mekong Housing Bank received approval from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in March to sell shares to the public for the first time. The lender plans to sell a 15 percent stake to so- called strategic investors, and 13 percent to the public, the government said at that time.
The bank in May 2007 chose Deutsche Bank AG to advise on its initial share sale.
Bloomberg
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