Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company (known as the "pepper king"), said that Phuc Sinh has just been valued at 320 million USD by a foreign investment fund after more than 22 years of operation and business in the coffee sector.
The company signed an agreement to receive investment capital from a European fund in late 2023. The identity of the fund and the value of the deal were not disclosed.
He said the company has been working with this European fund for 18 months. In fact, he said the company is still arranging capital itself, and banks are also offering attractive preferential interest rates. Therefore, when choosing partners, the company will also choose carefully, giving priority to units interested in sustainable development.
Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company (Photo: Phuc Sinh).
However, in the process of selecting investors, the company prioritizes units that respect Vietnamese agriculture and values agricultural companies at a high level.
In the market, many agricultural companies and wood processing companies are being priced relatively low compared to their value. Many years ago, his company also received many invitations to cooperate but was priced too low and had to refuse many times. Many partners came to work but the company could not find common ground, a balance of interests between the two sides.
To change the valuation, Chairman of the Board of Directors Phuc Sinh believes that partners need to clearly see the strengths of the business. The second point that partners need to see is transparency, professionalism, a food safety and hygiene business system, aiming for sustainable development.
Regarding partners, this investment fund has many years of experience in the agricultural sector, so it can also provide a lot of support to Phuc Sinh. In addition, the conditions for cooperation are relatively comfortable.
Mr. Phan Minh Thong said that there are relatively few investors in the field of sustainable development, and they are quite demanding. These funds are usually state organizations, non-governmental organizations, development funds, environmental protection funds, the earth, etc.
Revealing the participation of the aforementioned European fund, Mr. Thong said that this fund only invests money and does not participate in the company's operations. They are a sustainable development partner, wanting to invest in companies that develop sustainably and ensure food safety.
According to Mr. Thong, sustainable development is considered a trend for businesses since Covid-19, but it also requires a lot of costs and expenses to develop safely.
This European fund has invested in a large coffee corporation in Vietnam, but your company is the first Vietnamese enterprise that this fund has invested directly in, even though they do not have an office in Vietnam or Asia.
According to Mr. Thong, the European fund investment is a large amount of money, the company will use this investment to build 2 more coffee factories in 2024, expanding the company's branded coffee chain.
When asked whether the investment is good news, but there is concern about being taken over by this fund, Mr. Thong said: "Many partners come to work with us, they raise the issue that they want to invest, not come here to take over or affect the business too much." According to him, if the business is doing well, the issue of whether or not it is taken over is not a concern.
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