The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has requested the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to review personnel matters.

Sabeco will hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to elect additional members for the board of directors.

This request was made in response to the Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev)’s query relating to its authority to participate in Sabeco’s management board.

In a recent letter sent to the Government, ThaiBev has expressed concern that until now it has not been directly involved in Sabeco’s management board, even though its ownership in Sabeco has reached 53.59 percent of chartered capital.

In a sideline discussion at the Government’s meeting early this week, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the 2014 Law on Enterprises stipulates that a shareholder or a group of shareholders may officially participate in the company’s board of directors and board of supervisors if they own a 10 percent equity or more for at least six months. Meanwhile, ThaiBev has held Sabeco’s stake for about four months.

However, MoIT has sent a document to Sabeco, asking the company to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to make decisions on a personnel matter, Hai said.

In December 2017, ThaiBev, through its subsidiary Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd, purchased a 53.59 percent share of Sabeco’s chartered capital for nearly 5 billion USD through an auction on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

Sabeco’s management board has seven members including two independent ones. Currently, Sabeco has three members representing the State capital and one representative from Heineken, which holds 10 percent stake in Sabeco. Thus, Sabeco now lacks three board members.-VNA