But Son, Bim Son Cement Companies to offer shares

Two State-owned cement companies of But Son and Bim Son, which are located in northern Ha Nam and Thanh Hoa provinces of Vietnam, will auction 40 million shares at the local bourse shortly, local media reported. The But Son Cement Company is expected to sell its 22 million shares with the starting price of VND11,000 for each share on January 11, 2006.

When the companyswitches to the joint-stock model, its authorised capital will be estimated at VND1.1 trillion (US$69m).

Of the total, the State will retain a stake worth VND865.6445 billion (US$54.79m), making up 78.7 per cent of the total capital. The company’s employees will hold VND14.36 billion (US$m), which is equivalent to 1.3 per cent of the chartered capital, and other shareholders will account for VND220 billion (US$1m), comprising 20 per cent of the capital.

The But Son Cement Plant, which is under the Vietnam Cement Corp. and located in Thanh Son commune, Kim Bang district of Ha Nam province, is responsible for the main production of Pooclang PC 30 and cement PC 40. Switching to become a joint-stock company, it will expand its business to also producing and trading other construction materials.

The Bim Son Cement Company, meanwhile, plans to sell 18 million of its shares at the starting price of VND11,000 per share on the local bourse on January 13, 2006. The company now has total chartered capital of VND900 billion (US$5m).

Recently, Vietnam gives priorities to building extended and new cement plants in southern, central Vietnam and northern mountainous provinces, aiming to ensure the sector’s sustainable development and meet the domestic cement demand.