Major Vietnamese sugar firms in merger talks

Once established, the new company, will be the biggest sugar firm on Vietnam’s stock market.

Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of Thanh Thanh Cong Group, and Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Company are planning to merge.

Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh’s board of directors will submit the plan for approval at a snap company general meeting set for late May or early June.

The board plans to ask shareholders to agree to issue new shares to replace all of Bien Hoa Sugar's shares on the stock market.

Following the merger, the new company's market capitalization will be an estimated VND10 trillion ($440 million).

Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh and Bien Hoa are currently among the largest listed sugar companies in Vietnam.

At the end of 2016, Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh had total assets of more than VND7.3 trillion ($321.2 million) and equity of nearly VND3 trillion ($132 million), while Bien Hoa had over VND6 trillion and roughly VND2.28 trillion.

The current market capitalization of Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh is VND6.2 trillion, while Bien Hoa's is estimated at VND3.7 trillion.

Bien Hoa Sugar shares were up 4.58 percent to VND13,700 at the end of Thursday’s trading session, while Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh's were down 0.2 percent at VND24,450.