Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd, a local unit of Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd, has yet to place a deposit in order to bid for a stake of over 25% in Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco). This is contrary to what the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in an earlier press release.

Thai Beverage made it clear in its filing on the Singapore Exchange Limited on December 13 that Vietnam Beverage had registered to purchase a stake of at least 25% in Sabeco at an auction next Monday in a bid to meet the requirement for Sabeco’s competitive bid, but it has yet to determine its involvement.

ThaiBev said while the company is interested in acquiring shares in Sabeco, its subsidiary Vietnam Beverage has yet to arrive at any agreement to purchase the brewery’s shares at the upcoming auction.

Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said as of Monday, Vietnam Beverage became the only company to bid for a stake of over 25% in Sabeco.

This enterprise was set up in early October as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vietnam F&B Alliance Investment JSC – a local unit of the F&B food and beverage conglomerate based in Singapore.

BeerCo Limited, an indirect but wholly-owned subsidiary of Thai Beverage in Hong Kong (China), purchased a 49% stake in Vietnam F&B last month.

The ministry will hold a public auction of up to 343 million shares of Sabeco, or 53.59%, on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange at VND320,000 each next Monday, and expects to fetch an estimated VND110 trillion, or nearly US$5 billion.

Foreign ownership in Vietnam’s biggest brewery is capped at 49%. However, only a minority stake of 38.59% will be available to overseas bidders in this round of divestment, as Heineken and other foreign investors already hold around 10%.

SGT