VNPT completes MobiFone and VinaPhone divest plans for approval

Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) has completed plans to divest in MobiFone and VinaPhone to submit the Ministry of Information and Communications for approval, the state-run newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong reported.

The divest is under the government request in the Decree No 25/2011, which will come into effect on June 1 this year. However the final plan for the move has not yet released.

Analysts say VNPT has two options: 1) merge MobiFone and VinaPhone but keep the two brand names or 2) selling no less than 80 percent stake in one of the two telephone giants through privatisation.

Regarding option 1, Pham Hong Hai, head of Telecommunication department under the Ministry of Information and Communications said it is common in many other countries to merge telephones companies and keep different trademarks.

Analysts expect VNPT to adopt option 2 and sell shares in MobiFone. This is because it is more complicated to privatise VinaPhone. The company is dependent record and has not yet plan to equitise.

MobiFone contributes over 50 percent profit to VNPT but its employees account only 4 percent of the total.

VNPT has not yet announced final plan to equitise MobiFone and said it will take more time to complete. – Stoxplus.com

Tags: Mobifone, Vinaphone, VNPT