Becamex: From failed capital raisings to state divestment pressure

After multiple unsuccessful capital-raising attempts, Vietnam’s industrial real estate giant Becamex IDC (HoSE: BCM) is now facing a new challenge: reducing state ownership from 95.44% to 65% to meet the requirements for maintaining its status as a public company.

However, amid sharp stock market volatility and the persistent difficulty of reconciling valuation expectations, the capital mobilization journey of this industrial park heavyweight continues to face significant hurdles.

Pressure to reduce state ownership

Becamex IDC has disclosed that it has yet to fully meet shareholder structure requirements applicable to public companies under the Securities Law.

According to the shareholder list finalized for participation in the 2026 annual general meeting (AGM) as of the record date on May 25, Becamex has a total of 9,221 shareholders. Of these, 9,220 are non-major shareholders, collectively holding only about 4.56% of charter capital.

Meanwhile, current regulations require a public company to have at least 10% of voting shares held by at least 100 non-major investors.

This means Becamex has not yet satisfied the free-float requirement, although it is still permitted to maintain its public company status under transitional provisions of the Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises, effective from August 1, 2025.

To address this issue, the company said it has proactively developed a plan and submitted a proposal to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee - its state ownership representative, seeking approval to reduce state ownership from 95.44% to 65%.

The proposed solution involves issuing additional shares to the public to increase the ownership ratio of outside shareholders, while also ensuring compliance with public company shareholder structure requirements.

However, Becamex’s situation goes beyond a matter of legal compliance.

As one of Vietnam’s largest holders of industrial land banks, with a pipeline of major industrial park, urban, and logistics projects, the company consistently requires substantial capital. Meanwhile, an overly concentrated ownership structure, with the state holding more than 95%, has significantly constrained its ability to access market funding.

Against this backdrop, reducing state ownership to 65% is viewed as a reasonable threshold under current conditions. The state would still retain controlling ownership, while creating greater space for private capital and institutional investors to participate more actively in the shareholder structure.

From a market perspective, a low free-float ratio has also weighed on BCM’s liquidity, limiting its appeal to large investment funds, which typically require higher trading liquidity and a broader publicly tradable shareholder base.

Not-easy capital hike path

In reality, Becamex has pursued capital increase plans for many years to support its expansion strategy and gradually reduce state ownership. However, implementation has repeatedly been hindered by market volatility and constraints related to state capital management mechanisms.

At the end of 2024, the company attracted significant attention when it announced a plan to raise up to VND21 trillion ($797.37 million) through a public auction of 300 million shares. This was considered one of the largest share offerings in Vietnam’s stock market in recent years, following the wave of state divestments during 2016-2018.

To prepare for the plan, Becamex appointed SSI Securities Corporation (HoSE: SSI) as its advisor, while actively engaging foreign funds and organizing roadshows to increase investor interest.

After receiving approval from the State Securities Commission, Becamex announced the offering timeline, registration and payment schedule, and planned to conduct the auction on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) on April 28, 2025.

During the preparation phase, BCM shares performed strongly, rising from around VND57,900 to VND78,300 ($2.97) between April 2024 and March 2025.

However, market conditions later moved against expectations. The reciprocal tariff policy of U.S. President Donald Trump heightened concerns over export prospects and foreign direct investment inflows, putting pressure on the industrial real estate sector. BCM subsequently fell below its initial offering price of VND69,000 ($2.62).

In this context, Becamex was forced to temporarily suspend the deal.

At the 2025 AGM in May, CEO Nguyen Hoan Vu stated that the board of directors decided to postpone the issuance plan to protect shareholder interests and avoid dilution risks during unfavorable market conditions.

Nevertheless, with charter capital currently just above VND10 trillion ($379.72 million) - considered relatively modest compared to its asset base and development ambitions, the company still needs to secure additional funding sources.

Shortly after the 2025 AGM, its board of directors sought shareholder approval for a plan to issue 150 million shares via public auction on the HoSE, with a starting price not lower than VND50,000 ($1.9) per share.

However, the proposal was not approved, receiving only 2.85% of voting shares in favor, while 95.44% offered no opinion.

Notably, this proportion closely mirrors the state’s ownership stake, suggesting that Becamex’s main bottleneck in capital expansion may not only stem from market conditions, but also from approval mechanisms related to state capital.

Amid the need to reduce ownership to maintain public company status while also meeting capital requirements for a new investment cycle, investors are closely watching the 2026 AGM scheduled for June 25, hoping for a more viable solution to a long-standing capital-raising challenge.

In terms of market performance, BCM shares in early 2026 rebounded to around VND78,000 ($2.96), approaching their previous peak in March 2025. However, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a broader market correction, pulling BCM down to VND53,700 on Wednesday, not far from the minimum issuance price of VND50,000 previously considered by the company.

In this context, Becamex’s challenge is no longer simply whether to raise capital, but how to do so in a way that both safeguards state shareholder interests and remains attractive to market investors.

Becamex IDC is the Vietnamese partner in VSIP joint venture - Vietnam's top industrial real estate developer, with Singapore's Sembcorp as the other partner.