Masan Group says SK Group has yet to sell its shares

Masan Group, a leading consumer goods conglomerate in Vietnam, has affirmed that South Korean chaebol SK Group has not unloaded Masan shares as reported by Korean media.

Maeil Business Newspaper, the self-claimed “Korea’s No. 1 economic media,” last week reported that “SK Group has exercised a put option (the right to sell shares) to sell 9% of its stake in Masan Group in Vietnam and is currently finalizing the sale negotiations.”

However, “to date, SK has not exercised the put option,” Masan Group said in a press release on Monday.

“The two companies are in the final stage for an orderly and market-based process for SK Group to reduce their stakes at Masan Group, targeting professional pre-identified investors who are familiar with MSN’s business operations, subject to optimal market conditions,” the Vietnamese conglomerate clarified.

It stressed that this process is “designed to protect and maximize the interests of the shareholders of both companies.”

SK Group, the third chaebol in South Korea, invested $450 million in Masan Group back in 2018. The principal and interest will be recovered by the end of this year, Maeil Business Newspaper reported.

At a meeting with institutional investors last month, Masan Group’s CEO Danny Le assured them that SK Group’s divestment process would last 24 months and that there will be no dumping of shares.

He noted that Masan Group will coordinate with SK Group in balancing its portfolio or divesting entirely to safeguard Masan's share price and its shareholders’ benefits.

It’s not the first time unconfirmed reports have circulated about SK Group liquidating portfolio investments in Vietnam. Similar rumors had emerged last September.

SK Group is scheduled to hold a strategic meeting later this week to formulate its restructuring strategies.

Shares of Masan Group, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as MSN, dropped 2.1% to VND74,600 ($2.93) a piece at the break on Monday.

The VN-Index, the main gauge of the HoSE, was trading 1.4% lower at 1,263.99.