The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC Capitalization Equity Fund, members of the World Bank Group, are no longer a major shareholder at state-run Joint Stock Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (Vietinbank), after having sold a combined 55.7 million shares or a 1.49% stake, according to a filing to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE).

Illustrative photo.

On January 8, the IFC sold 18.94 million shares to reduce its holding in Vietnam’s third-largest bank by market value from 2.14% to 1.63%, while IFC Capitalization Fund offloaded 36.77 million shares, cutting its ownership to 3.35% in the Vietnamese lender from the previous 4.34%.

After the transactions, the IFC and IFC Capitalization Fund now hold 185.8 million shares, or 4.99% stake, effectively ending their statuses as major shareholders of the Vietnamese lender since January 10.

Last November, these two sold nearly 57.4 million shares or a 1.54% stake at Vietinbank. Of the amount, the IFC sold 18.14 million shares and IFC Capitalization Fund with 39.22 million shares, resulting in the two holding a combined 6.48% stake from 8.02%.

Last year, Bloomberg reported the IFC was seeking a buyer for its 8% stake in Vietinbank after a seven-year partnership.

As of present, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, is the largest shareholder of Vietinbank with a 64.46% stake, followed by Japan’s largest bank MUFG with over 19.7%. 

At the close on January 13, share of Vietinbank was traded at VND23,450 (US$1.01) apiece, while the market capitalization of the bank is VND86.38 trillion (US$3.73 billion).