Airport Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) will sell more than 166 million shares to French airport management firm Aeroport de Paris (ADP) at the starting price of no more than VND13,100 (6 U.S. cents) per share.

The shares will not be transferrable in a period of at least 10 years as approved by shareholders at ACV’s first shareholders meeting in HCMC on March 16.  

Nguyen Nguyen Hung, chairman of ACV, said the corporation has sent the Ministry of Transport a plan to select financial and legal consultants to start its negotiations with ADP over the share sale.

If the shares are sold at VND13,100 each, ACV would raise VND2.2 trillion (around 98.67 million) and ADP would own a 7.4% stake at the corporation, which manages 22 airports in Vietnam.

With several large-scale airport projects that ACV will implement in the coming years, shareholders expect the share price would be higher than the planned starting price.

The projects include expansion of Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s passenger terminal in HCMC at a cost of over VND1 trillion, Phu Quoc Airport off mainland Kien Giang Province at VND696 billion, and taxiway and parking lot areas at VND798 million.

At the meeting, ACV provided shareholders with updates about the first phase of Long Thanh international airport. The airport is expected to serve 25 million passengers per year after it is put into use no later than 2025.

The second and third phases would enable Long Thanh in the southern province of Dong Nai to handle up to 100 million passengers per year.

The corporation is completing procedures for picking a consultant to carry out the feasibility study for the multi-billion-dollar project for submission to the Government before it is forwarded to the State appraisement council and the National Assembly for consideration and approval, hopefully in March next year.

Shareholders voted in favor of ACV’s airport infrastructure investment plan worth VND5.84 trillion for this year.

Shareholders raised questions about the equitization of ACV. A representative of the corporation said the corporation would have chartered capital of VND22.43 trillion with VND21.7 trillion held by the State in line with the approved equitization plan. The corporation will issue an additional 166 million shares.

ACV will sell a 20% stake, or 448 million shares, to strategic investors by issuing 65 million more shares and selling 382 million State shares.

For revenue, ACV is expected to earn more than VND12 trillion this year with nearly VND9 trillion generated between April 1 and December 31.

ACV’s service revenue is projected to rise by 5.13% against last year while pretax profit is estimated at more than VND2 trillion, with VND1.2 trillion earned in the April-December period, and this year’s dividend is set at 5%.

ACV has set revenue growth targets for the 2016-2020 period based on the average annual growth rates of 6-8% in the number of passengers and 5.1% in cargo at airports. The corporation aims for a pretax profit increase of 2-3% a year.