HAGL Agrico has announced that Duc, deputy chair of the company, sold all of his 3 million HNG shares (0.27 percent) on May 4-27. The businessman no longer holds shares in the agricultural empire.

Duc sold HNG when the prices of the shares were at a historic low of VND6,300 per share. He bought the shares at VND11,000 per share last year.

As such, Duc incurred a loss of VND11 billion in the deal.

HAGL Agrico has been facing difficulties over half of a decade, while Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) shares have been sold and the control of the enterprise has been transferred to Thaco, an automobile manufacturer owned by billionaire Tran Ba Duong.

HAGL Agirco received a warning as its post-tax undistributed profit by June 30, 2020 was a minus figure.

Thaco took over HAGL Agrico a year ago and Tran Ba Duong, chair of Thaco, is now in the post of chair of HAGL Agrico. Duc is still deputy chair of HAGL Agrico.

Thaco holds 27.6 percent of HNG shares, while Duong holds 4.58 percent and Tran Oanh Trading and Production, the holding company of Thaco, has 4.96 percent.

HAGL has also sold a large amount of HNG shares over the last two years, reducing the ownership ratio from 41 percent to 9.44 percent.

Under an agreement signed by HAGL and Thaco in August 2018, Thaco and its group of shareholders would own 35 percent of shares of HAGL Agrico, a subsidiary of HAGL, specializing in agricultural production.

Tran Ba Duong, chair of Thaco, has been listed by Forbes as a dollar billionaire since 2018. Stock assets owned by Duong and his family members were $1.7 billion as of May 30, 2022.

However, with the valuation, as seen in Thaco’s plan on selling shares to Singapore’s Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C), Duong and his wife directly and indirectly hold 65 percent of the enterprise and have assets worth $6.1 billion, almost equal to the No 1 dollar billionaire of Vietnam – Pham Nhat Vuong.

Tran Ba Duong is famous for his huge real estate project Sala in Thu Thiem in HCM City. The Dai Quang Minh Company of Duong has huge revenue from the project.

Duong has succeeded with Thaco and had a breakthrough with the development of an area in Thu Thiem. However, the billionaire has had difficulties in rescuing HAGL Agrico.

M. Ha