Tael Two Partners Ltd, one of the two major foreign stakeholders of GTNFood Joint Stock Company, has registered to offload its entire holding in the Vietnamese food company.

Moc Chau dairy cow farm (Source: GTNFoods)

The deal will pave the way for Vinamilk to acquire a larger stake in the ownership of Moc Chau Milk.

The Singapore-based private equity fund registered to sell 55 million shares, equivalent to 22 percent of GTNFoods, between May 10 and June 7 for divestment purpose.

The mode of transaction is to register to sell by the tender offer of Vinamilk, the fund said in its filing to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

In March, Vinamilk offered to purchase more than 116 million shares of GTNFoods with a tender price of 13,000 VND (0.56 USD) per share. Vinamilk is expected to spend about 1.5 trillion VND (64.5 million USD) on the deal.

If the deal went through, Vinamilk would increase its stake in GTNFoods to 49 percent.

Shares of GTNFoods, coded GTN on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, soared 12.3 percent in the last four trading sessions, pricing 19,000 VND per share on May 7, up 46 percent over the Vinamilk’s offered price.

Compared to the beginning of this year, value of GTN shares almost doubled. The jump was believed to be because Vinamilk showed interest in the company.

GTNFoods hold around 75 percent in Vietnam Livestock Corporation (Vilico), which accounts for 51 percent of Moc Chau Dairy Cow JSC, the largest dairy cow farm in the North.

The company also holds 95 percent of Vietnam Tea Corporation’s capital and 35 percent of LadoFoods – owner of the Dalat wine brand.

Vinamilk's public tender was not approved by GTNfoods management board after three out of six board members disagreed, including the GTNFoods chairman.

Meanwhile, three foreign funds agreed with Vinamilk’s offer. After the divestment of Tael Two Partner, other two foreign investors may also offload their stakes in GTNFoods.

Tael Two Partners and PENM IV Germany GmbH & Co.KG are the two biggest foreign investors, holding respectively 22 percent and 6 percent.

For domestic stakeholders, West Ocean Invest JSC is GTNFoods’ largest shareholder with 28 percent capital. Ho Chi Minh Securities Corp owns 8.03 percent and BZZ Investment JSC holds 7 percent.

Last weekend, the company also sought its shareholders' opinions for the amendments of the company's charter relating to the election of board members and rejection of proposals of shareholders and groups of shareholders. This move is believed to prevent the acquisition efforts from outside.