Vietnam's second largest mobile phone company to be offered for public sale
HANOI - Vietnam plans to sell to the public half of the country's second biggest telecoms company, company officials said. Some 49 percent of Vietnam Mobile Telecommunications Service Co. (VMS), a subsidiary of the state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp (VNPT), would be sold to the public, they said.
"The project was approved by Prime Minister (Phan Van Khai) in February," a VMS official said. "We still need to evaluate the value of our assets before deciding the prices of our shares," Pham Viet Tan said, adding the process was still at an early stage. Details of the sale process were unavailable.
Pham also said VMS would have its business cooperation contract with Swedish partner Comvik International Vietnam, part of the NASDAQ-listed Millicom International Cellular SA group, terminated in May. The cooperative venture, operating as Mobiphone, claims around 2.5 million users, behind Vinaphone, the market leader, which is also a VNPT unit. Vietnam is the second fastest expanding telecoms market in the world after China, according to industry experts.
Agence France Presse - March 22, 2005
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