On July 11, more than 50 percent of the capital of PGBank (PGB), or 155 million shares, were sold under put-through transactions in a deal worth VND3.274 trillion.

The shares were traded at VND21,000 per share, which was 25 percent lower than the market price. On that day, the PGB price hit the ceiling price, closing at VND27,900 per share, up 14.8 percent over the previous session. Since the beginning of the year, PGB has surged by 70 percent.

Prior to that, on July 10, 11 million PGB units were traded with the value of VND268 billion, of which 10.8 million shares were matched within two minutes.

In April 2023, hundreds of PGB shares were traded on UpCom after Petrolimex successfully auctioned 120 million PGB on April 7 (the average price was VND21,400 per share). 

The buyers were Cuong Phat International (40.6 million), Vu Anh Duc Trading (40 million) and Gia Linh Import-Export and Trade Development (39.3 million). The three little-known names are believed to have relations with TC Group, an automobile manufacturer.

To date, the huge transactions of hundreds of millions of shares, as well as Petrolimex’s divestment of 120 million PGB remain unclear, and the question of who will be the next owner of the bank remains unanswered.

Before the huge transaction on July 11 was made, no shareholder of PGBank announced the sale or purchase of shares.

Prior to that, on November 30, 2022, the market witnessed a record: more than 54 percent of circulating shares of a real estate firm well known in the north were traded within one trading session. As many as 165 million HPX shares of Hai Phat Investment owned by president Do Quy Hai were transferred, a new record in transaction value in the stock market.

As such, within one session, most of the capital of a real estate firm with many projects in Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh and Bac Giang changed hands. A report showed that by the end of 2021, Hai had held 121.8 million HPX shares, or 40 percent of capital. Dragon Capital held tens of millions of HPX.

The ownership ratios of the two largest shareholders may change considerably as securities companies have recently announced the forced sale of Hai’s millions of shares. On November 30, 2022, foreign investors sold 36.3 million of HPX.

The market also saw many sessions with huge transactions of some shares. On November 22 and November 28, 2022, hundreds of millions of Novaland (NLV) were transferred with the value of VND5 trillion.

Businesses change hands

Investors have recently witnessed big changes in shareholder structure in Bamboo Airways (BAV). In May, when changing business registration, Bamboo Airways successfully increased its capital by VND7.72 trillion through the issuance of debt swap shares to VND26.22 trillion, becoming the biggest air carrier in Vietnam.

Le Thai Sam is now the biggest shareholder of Bamboo Airways, holding 1 billion shares, or 38 percent. If FLC completes the share transfer to Sam as announced, Sam would have 1.4 billion BAV, or 53.6 percent. 

On July 8, Sam was appointed President of Bamboo Airways to replace Oshima Hideki, who had been in the post for just three weeks. Nguyen Ngoc Trong has been re-elected as member of the Board of Directors and CEO, replacing Nguyen Minh Hai who resigned after several months on the ‘hot seat’.

Recently, PGBank made big changes in shareholder structure as well as in leadership. On July 2, the bank announced the dismissal of president Oliver Schwarzhaupt after just two months of appointment. Nguyen Phi Hung was appointed president, while Pham Manh Thang was appointed acting CEO.

Stock assets

On peak days, stock assets owned by Do Quy Hai (Hai Phat Invest) and his family reached VND5-6 trillion. However, their asset value dropped sharply because share price dropped by 70-80 percent and the number of shares held by Hai also decreased as a result of the forced sale.

Bui Thanh Nhon and related businesses also saw the sale of hundreds of millions of NVL shares, which led to their ownership falling to below 1 billion units, or 50 percent of Novaland’s capital.

Nhon has been excluded from the list of USD billionaires since November 18, 2022 as NLV prices have hit the floor continuously. In March 2022, Nhon had stock assets of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Manh Ha