VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (LON:VOF) has bought a sizeable stake in Tasco, one of the country’s largest toll road and property groups.
VOF was the largest investor (US$11mln) in a placing by Tasco that raised US$23mln.
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Andy Ho, chief investment officer of VinaCapital, the fund’s manager, and also managing director of VOF, said: “The private placement gave us the opportunity to acquire a meaningful stake at an attractive price in a company that has a long track record of results and a strong pipeline.
“This investment is consistent with our philosophy of investing in companies that are focused on the growth of the local economy, and infrastructure improvement is a critical element in Vietnam’s ongoing development.”
Tasco is one of the largest BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BT (build-transfer) developers in northern Vietnam with four toll-road projects in operation and another set to open this year.
In total, these projects are worth US$220mln, but the nature of its contracts means Tasco is also allocated prime property locations in and around Hanoi.
Tasco’s revenue in 2016 was US$124mln with a net profit of US$18mln, both of which have been growing strongly driven by its property project around Hanoi.
Market consensus is that Tasco will report 32% year-over-year (yoy) growth in revenue and 15% year-on-year in net profit during 2017, with property the main income source.