Vietnam’s Masan to delay The CrownX IPO, issue up to $500 mln international bonds

HANOI, April 24 (Reuters) – Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group (MSN.HM) will delay the listing of the country’s biggest retail company, The CrownX, and issue up to $500 million in international convertible bonds to boost its working capital, its CEO said on Monday.

Responding to questions from shareholders at its annual meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, CEO Danny Le said the initial public offering (IPO) for The CrownX would be pushed back to 2024 or 2025, due to unfavourable market conditions.

“We are preparing the IPO for The CrownX but with all that is going on…in terms of market landscape and the legal framework here, we need to wait for another 12 months,” Le said at the meeting, which was livestreamed online.

Masan last year flagged it was considering listing The CrownX in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore or Vietnam, in 18 to 24 months.

The CrownX was formed in 2019 through a merger of Masan’s food and beverage unit and Vingroup’s (VIC.HM) retail units and high-tech farms.

Masan on Monday also said it was seeking to raise funds from international bond sales to finance its investment activities, supplement working capital and restructure the group’s foreign debts.

The bonds, which will be issued this year or next, will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with a tenure of five years, unsecured and unwarranted.

The company targets revenues of 90-100 trillion dong ($3.83-$4.62 billion) this year, up 18-31% from 2022. It also set a 5%-28% net profit increase goal for 2023.

At Monday’s meeting, Craig Bradshaw, chief executive of Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR.HNO), one of the world’s largest tungsten suppliers, said it was ready to commercialise its fast-charging electric battery product, which will be used in electric vehicles and robots.

($1 = 23,473 dong)

Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty

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