FPT to Soon Decide on Sale of Retail, Distribution Arms: Chairman

FPT Corp, Vietnam’s largest software producer, is pondering the divestment form its retail and distribution units.


              FPT will soon decide on the sale of its retail and distribution units. Photo: Internet

The board of FPT Corp, the leading IT services provider in Vietnam, is discussing the sale of the company’s retail and distribution units, with a conclusion expected to be reached either this year or early in 2017, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh told the Nikkei Asia Review.

Divesting the units would allow FPT to generate better returns by concentrating on its IT solutions and telecommunications business, Binh said on the sidelines of the Nikkei Asia300 Global Business Forum in Bangkok.

Binh added that the company is at its “sensitive moment” as it ponders selling shares of FPT Digital Retail, where FPT holds an 85% stake, and its wholly-owned distribution business FPT Trading.

The chairman declined to reveal the number of shares that could be divested, saying the matter was a sensitive one.

According to local media, a number of foreign players are keen to acquire FPT’s retail arm, which operates the chain of FPT Shop and FPT Studio outlets selling digital products made by global producers such as Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Samsung and HP. 

FPT’s retail arm could be sold to either Japanese or Thai investors, who have dominated merger and acquisition deals in Vietnam’s retail market recently.

Nguyen Viet Anh, deputy general director of FPT Shop, said late in May that China's Alibaba Group Holding could be a suitable partner.

According to analysts, FPT could book between 2.3 trillion dong ($103 million) and 2.7 trillion dong ($121 million) from the divestment.

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE