Vietnam is considering listing stakes in leading state-owned companies including Mobifone in 2016, finance ministry official Dang Quyet Tien has been quoted saying. The potential privatisation has been in the works for several years, during which the mobile operator has been linked to interest from overseas players including Telenor, Comvik, Axiata, Vodafone, Orange and SingTel.
Vietnam is considering listing stakes in leading state-owned companies including mobile operator Mobifone in 2016, finance ministry official Dang Quyet Tien has been quoted saying.
Tien, who is deputy director of the government’s corporate finance unit, told Reuters that other major companies in the rubber, shipping, beer, textiles, airlines, oil and dairy industries could also be listed.
A privatisation of Mobifone has been under consideration since 2013, following its spin-off from state-owned Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT). VNPT’s earlier attempt to merge Mobifone with its other cellco, Vinaphone, did not receive government approval.
In 2014, Norway’s Telenor and Sweden’s Comvik expressed interest in taking strategic stakes in Mobifone, while Axiata, Vodafone, Orange and SingTel were also linked to possible interest in a 49% stake in the asset.
Elsewhere in the region, the latter three had been invited to take part in Myanmar’s telecoms liberalisation in 2013. Other operators to take an interest included Millicom, Bharti and Digicel, with Telenor, Qatar’s Ooredoo and Japan’s KDDI emerging as the winners. The country is now offering a fourth mobile licence.
Yesterday, the Kazakh government announced its own interest in privatising large state-owned companies including Kazakhtelecom.
Viettel is the country’s number three player, followed by Mobifone and Vinaphone. Together, the three operators have a 90% market share, with the remaining 10% shared by a clutch of smaller players. Vietnam, which according to the World Bank had a population of 90 million as of 2013, has more than 100% mobile penetration.
