[Vietnamization] Vietnam group TTC to list in Singapore amid $600mn expansion plan

The company has already expanded its sugar operations beyond Vietnam to Cambodia and soon to Laos

Tuoi Tre

Vietnam group TTC to list in Singapore amid $600mn expansion plan  

Tuoi Tre News | 3 October 2016

Vietnam has finished negotiating 12 free trade agreements, since then, the country has had free trade relationships with 55 countries. This is a  must that helps enterprises motivate their internal force, enhancing their competitiveness for successful integration.

In this circumstance, the puzzle of increasing competitiveness through reducing cost is one of the crucial goals of TTC Sugar. This year, TTC Group is stepping up production of the sweetener and seeking new investors as it gears up for a Singapore listing of one of its sugar units in five years that would raise about $600 million.

Vietnam’s TTC Group, a sugar, energy and real estate conglomerate, is stepping up production of the sweetener and seeking new investors as it gears up for a Singapore listing of one of its sugar units in five years that would raise about $600 million.

According to Bloomberg, a merger is expected to be completed early next year and will create the biggest sugar producer in Vietnam worth $200 million. The name of the partner has not been disclosed.

TTC Sugar has implemented new policies, accompanying farmers with the consistent point: “farmers derive earnings – factories have profit – no longer contraband sugar.” It has provided funding with favorable interest, grown high-yield cane crops, applied mechanization to reduce cost, standardized cultivation management and transportation, and minimized cost and waste.

In 2015, TTC Sugar succeeded in enlarging its market share, restructuring sales proportion between industrial customers and direct consumers and providing high-quality sugar lines and TSU sugar to customers.

Ms. Dang Huynh Uc My, Chairwoman of the Board at the Sugar Joint Stock Company Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh, runs her family business with all the enthusiasm and courage of youth.

Ms. My Dang, who has relocated to Singapore to spearhead the sugar unit’s listing, declined to identify the local merger partner but said the deal would be completed early next year, according to Bloomberg.

The group expects its sugar business to generate $35 million of its pre-tax income of $62 million this year. It is also seeking to boost the foreign ownership in TTC Sugar, one of its best-performing sugar units, to 35 percent from 11 percent during the first quarter of next year.

A supplier to Vietnam Dairy Products JSC and Kido Group Corp., TTC Group is already moving to increase sugar production. The company is buying a sugar mill with a designed annual capacity of 70,000 tons and a 6,000-hectare sugarcane plantation from HAGL JSC, with the $100 million deal expected to close in October. The mill will start operations in December and production at the plantation is expected to increase five-fold, with one third of output shipped to Europe in the next five years, said My Dang.

“We aim to become a global player, thus we wanted to list in Singapore,” Chief Executive Officer Thai Van Chuyen said in an interview in the company’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. The company has already expanded its sugar operations beyond Vietnam to Cambodia and soon to Laos, he told Bloomberg.

Singapore has yet to have a listing from a Vietnamese company, Bloomberg reported.