Ton Poh Fund invests US$11mn in Vietnam’s leading mobile retailer

The Ton Poh Fund, run by Bangkok-based Ton Poh Capital, officially received the shares from their previous owners, two other foreign funds, on February 28, the Vietnam Securities Depository has announced.

MWG is the operator of retail chains The Gioi Di Dong and Dien May Xanh.

According to the Vietnam Securities Depository, CDH Electric Bee Limited has transferred 1 million MWG shares to The Ton Poh Fund, and Dempsey Hill Asia, 500,000 shares to the Thai investor.

Shoppers are seen at a The Gioi Di Dong outlet in Ho Chi Minh City.

The CDH Electric Bee Ltd. had previously announced it would sell 1 million of the 4.72 million shares it owned in MWG.

MWG closed at VND167,500 a share by the end of February 28’s trading session, a slight decline from February 27, meaning the Thai fund had spent more than VND250 billion, or US$11.16 million.

An MWG representative said the transfer of shares between foreign investors would not affect the company’s business plans nor policies as the investments did not represent controlling shares.

Another investor, Mekong Enterprise Fund II Ltd, also has plans to reduce its stake in the Vietnamese company from 5.2% to 4.55% by offering to sell 1 million of its 8 million MWG shares.

Prior to the MWG investment, The Ton Poh Fund had sold 300,000 shares of Superdong-Kien Giang, reducing its stake in the Vietnamese hydrofoil operator to 4.83%.

The Thai fund made its debut on Vietnam’s exchange in March 2015, buying 2.5 million shares to hold a 5.92% stake in realty trader CotecCons.