Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) has sought permission from the Ministry of Transport to commence negotiations with French group Aeroports de Paris (ADP), the potential partner in the firm.

A Vietnam Airlines plane at Da Nang International Airport.

If the ministry agrees, the negotiation will begin this month.

ACV, a state owned company of the Ministry of Transport (MoT), has VND22.43 trillion ($998.8 million) in charter capital, is the largest enterprise in Viet Nam's transport sector and manages 22 of the country's international and domestic airports.

Chairman of ACV Nguyen Nguyen Hung told baodautu.vn that ADP was the only investor meeting the ministry's requirements to conduct negotiations in the role of strategic partner.

ADP is one of three investors proposing to be a strategic investor in ACV. It has been operating 37 airports in the world through its subsidiary Airports de Paris Management (ADPM), including Paris – Charles de Gaulle and Paris – Orly.

Two others include Changi Airport International, a subsidiary of Singapore's Changi Airport Group, and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).

BIDV was very interested in investing in ACV as a strategic investor when it was willing to buy 5 per cent of ACV shares, but its financial capacity did not meet the ministry's demand, which required the non-aviation organisation's ownership capital to be $5 billion. By the end of 2014, the bank's ownership capital was $1.56 billion.

ACV off-loaded 77.8 million shares at VND14,300 (US$0.63) each, or 3.47 per cent of the company, in its initial public offering on the HCM Stock Exchange on December 10.

Apart from the IPO, 5 per cent of company's shares amounting to 9.2 million were sold to company employees. The State retains a capital ratio of 75 per cent of the company's equity and announced that a 20 per cent stake would be available to strategic investors after the IPO. 

VNS