Vietnam government and state-owned enterprises plan to divest some of their shareholdings in the country's two biggest insurers, namely, Baoviet Holdings (BVH) and PVI Holdings.
According to analysts, the divestment could generate more opportunities for foreign investors to put their capital in the domestic insurance market, both as shareholders and strategic partners, reported Vietnam News Agency. Vietnam does not impose a ceiling on the ownership of insurance companies by foreign investors.
BVH
At BVH’s 2024 annual general meeting, the company's board of directors said that they would develop a plan to reduce state ownership starting in 2026.
According to BVH acting general director Nguyen Dinh An, the state’s stake in the company is expected to be maintained at 65% of the firm's capital until the end of 2025. After that, the stake will be lowered to 51%.
This plan to divest the government’s stake was also revealed by BVH at the annual general meeting in 2023.
At present, the Ministry of Finance holds more than 482.5m BVH shares, equivalent to a stake of 65%. State Capital Investment and Trading Corporation (SCIC) holds 22.1m BHV shares, equivalent to nearly 3% of the capital.
PVI
Meanwhile, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) will sell part of its stake in PVI before the end of 2025, according to a restructuring plan drawn up to the end of 2025, approved by the Government.
Petrovietnam holds more than 81.9m PVI shares, equivalent to a stake of 35%. Germany’s HDI Global SE is the largest shareholder of PVI with a stake of 38.89% or more than 91.1m shares.
State ownership is also high in other insurance companies. At Bao Minh Joint Stock Corporation, SCIC holds more than 61.1m shares, equivalent to 50.7% of the total shareholding. The state owns 52.93% of Vietnam Agricultural Bank Insurance Joint Stock Company, 40.36% of Vietnam National Reinsurance Joint Stock Corporation, and more than 51% of the capital of BIDV Insurance Joint Stock Corporation.