The Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) appointed a new management board at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on April 23, following Thai Beverage Public (ThaiBev)’s acquisition of a 53.59 percent stake in the State brewer last year.

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Sabeco Chairman Vo Thanh Ha, who represented the Ministry of Industry and Trade, resigned from his position and three new investors were elected to the management board.

The three new members include Singaporean national Koh Poh Tiong, Chairman of Beer Group, which owns a 49 percent stake in the parent company of Vietnam Beverage; Malaysian national Tan Tiang Hing, Malcolm, CEO of Dexcel International; and Thai national Sunyaluck Chaikajornawat, who is currently working at Weerawong Chinnavat & Partners Ltd.

The extraordinary shareholders’ meeting was organised to review personnel matters in the company in response to Thai Beverage Public’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 here has reached 53.59 percent of charter capital.

In a sideline discussion at the Government’s meeting on April 2, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the 2014 Law on Enterprise 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.

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