Gemadept sells majority stake in two subsidiary firms

Hanoi (VNA) - The Gemadept Corporation (GMD) has completed the transfer of capital in its two subsidiary firms to CJ Logistics Corporation of the Republic of Korea, the Vietnamese company has announced.

In a filing with the HCM Stock Exchange on October 3, Gemadept said it sold a 50.9 percent stake in Gemadept Shipping Holding Co Ltd and 50.9 percent of its shares in Gemadept Logistics Holding Co Ltd to CJ Logistics on October 1.

After the sales, its holdings in these two companies shrank to 49.1 percent each.

This divestment is part of Gemadept’s restructuring plan, approved at its annual shareholders’ meeting in May, following which Gemadept will sell capital of its affiliate companies to strategic partners.

Proceeds from divestments will be used to pay dividends to shareholders.

Meanwhile, CJ Logistics, previously known as CJ Korea Express Corp, is looking for opportunities to acquire logistics firms in Southeast Asia, aiming to be one of five largest logistics firms globally. In the past two years, it has purchased major stakes in logistics firms in Malaysia, China, Dubai and India.

Gemadept’s CEO Do Van Minh said the company would pay a special dividend rate of 85 percent this year if it completed the share sales in Gemadept Shipping and Gemadept Logistics.

The value of the deals has not been disclosed, but HCM Securities Co (HSC) has estimated that a 51 percent stake in these two companies is valued around 125 million USD altogether.

After paying 85-per-cent dividends, HSC estimated Gemadept could earn cumulative earnings of 2.4 trillion VND (105.7 million USD) from the two divestments.

The capital transfers in the two firms do not include Gemadept’s stakes in seven other companies, including Saigon Cargo Service Corp (SCSC), K Line-Gemadept Logistics Co Ltd (KGL), Lien Uoc Vietnam Transport Co Ltd (YJC), OOCL Logistics, ISS-Gemadept, VNM General Transportation Service Co Ltd and Pacific Shipping Agency Co Ltd, Gemadept said.

In a separate filing to the HCM Stock Exchange, Gemadept said it transferred 15 percent of its capital in CJ Vietnam to CJ O Shopping Co Ltd.

Gemadept is considered Vietnam’s biggest logistics firm with consolidated revenues of 3.74 trillion VND in 2016, of which 57 percent came from logistics and 43 percent from port services.

In the second half of this year, Gemadept reported net revenues of 1.87 trillion VND, up 3.7 percent year-on-year, while its net profit reached 196 billion VND, up 4.3 percent year-on-year.-VNA