The State-owned Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd (BSR), operator of Dung Quat Oil Refinery, has failed to follow through on its plan to sell a 49% stake to strategic shareholders.

A night view of Dung Quat Oil Refinery, which processes and supplies 30% of fuels on the Vietnamese market 

Under its equitization plan, approved by the Government, BSR was to offer a 49% stake to strategic investors following its initial public offering (IPO), which successfully divested roughly 8% of its State capital in January.

The Government was expected to hold the remaining stake of 43% in BSR after the company went public.

As many as 62 organizations and 561 individuals scrambled to snap up over 241.5 million BSR shares, at an average price of VND23,043 each, at the IPO on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange early this year.

These shares represented 7.79% of the refinery operator’s chartered capital, with proceeds totaling VND5,566 billion (US$243.9 million).

BSR expected to sell extra shares to strategic investors at good prices. However, the market has been following a downward trend since the successful IPO.

Consequently, the State-owned company has missed the deadline for selling the shares to strategic shareholders, which was set at three months after the IPO.

As a result, the company wants to change its plan to sell a 49% stake.

The detailed plan is neither to be submitted to the Government nor to be made public at its annual general meeting on June 21.

An Indian oil company has expressed keen interest in the share purchase. The two sides will likely take at least a year to negotiate agreement conditions, according to the refinery operator.

SGT