Kido divests from Chuk Chuk F&B chain

Kido Group, Vietnam's leading food and cooking oil producer, has approved its divestment from TTV Investment-Trading JSC, operator of the F&B chain Chuk Chuk.

Initially, the company had a total investment of VND100 billion ($4.21 million), of which Kido contributed 61% of the capital to take control. It had said it would continue to increase capital to serve expansion in the future.

Tran Tuyet Van, daughter of vice chairman and general director Tran Le Nguyen, is general director of TTV. According to its Q3 financial statement, Kido had invested VND308 billion ($12.98 million) in the company.

The main products of Chuk Chuk, launched in June 2021, are ice cream, tea and coffee. Chuk Chuk has oriented to develop not only traditional eateries, but also kiosk and trolley models.

At the time of launching Chuk Chuk, Kido had wanted to make Chuk Chuk a national brand in the F&B market with the ambition of not only covering the country but also developing a franchise according to international standards. Kido had aimed to have over 50 Chuk Chuk stores by the end of 2021 and start franchising in 2022.

Nguyen had emphasized Chuk Chuk would be profitable in its first year. In 2023, it was expected to have over 100 points of sale, with revenue forecast at more than VND1.2 trillion ($50.58 million). By 2025, there would be about 1,000 stores with revenue of over VND7.8 trillion ($328.8 million).

According to chukchuk.vn, the group has opened stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and Hanoi.

In July 2022, Chuk Chuk officially changed its name to Chuk Tea & Coffee. Accordingly, 35 Chuk Tea & Coffee stores are located in the central districts of HCMC and Hanoi. By the end of 2023, Chuk Tea & Coffee was expected to be available in every province in Vietnam.

At its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on Tuesday, Kido said it would sell more than 22.5 million treasury shares to a multinational consumer goods corporation to help the group expand its exports, without disclosing the foreign firm's name.

At the meeting, Kido's shareholders approved the proposal to buy back 10 million shares, accounting for 3.57% of the total issued shares, to reduce the firm's charter capital according to regulations.

This transaction is expected to be implemented in 2023 through order matching or agreement. If the transaction is successful, KDC's charter capital will be reduced to VND2.697 trillion ($113.48 million). The number of outstanding shares will then be 269.7 million and the number of treasury shares, zero.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the KDC share price hit VND62,000 ($2.6) at the close on Tuesday.