Vietnamese businesses declare war against big foreign sharks Many foreign investors have failed to implement their plan to take over Vietnamese enterprises as they have met headstrong businessmen.   Vicostone’s 2014 administration report showed sensational information: the president and CEO of Vicostone (VCS) Ho Xuan Nang, who holds VCS’ controlling stakes, successfully acquired VCS. Nang is a big shareholder of Phenikaa, where he holds 90 percent of capital, or 54 million shares. The buyer was not a strange face. He has been the chair of the company since 2004 as a representative of the big shareholder of VCS. VCS is still a special case, in which Vietnamese shareholders gained the upper hand over foreign shareholders, and the head of the buyers’ targeted company tried to swallow the buyer. The confrontation between the group of Vietnamese and foreign shareholders at VCS lasted several years, which has had a big impact on its operations. The former group comprises several members of the company’s board of directors and veteran managers. Meanwhile, the latter is represented by Red River Holding which holds nearly 50 percent of VCS shares. VCS, a powerful company with reported large profits, unexpectedly went downhill in 2012 and 2013, when it reported decreased profits, refused to pay dividends and delisted its shares from the bourse. However, the tough days have gone since VCS was taken over by Phenikaa. Three foreign shareholders holding 46 percent of shares decided to sell their stakes in June 2014, paving the way for Phenikaa to control over VCS. Prior to that, few imagined that domestic shareholders would regain the company if they had to struggle with the powerful foreign investors. Analysts noted that many Vietnamese investors have “grown up very quickly”, which allows them to confront foreign companies. Bibica, the sweets manufacturer, is another example. SSIAM, a subsidiary of Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI), has recently withdrawn 20 percent of capital from Bibica. With the transaction, Bibica is no longer an associated company of SSI. However, Bibica still has many Vietnamese shareholders. Some businesses owned by, or having relations with SSI’s president Nguyen Duy Hung, such as PAN Food, Duong Mat Troi, Ben Tre Seafood Import/Export Company are still holding a large proportion of Bibica shares. Hung is still a major rival of South Korean Lotte in Bibica. A senior executive of Tien Phong Plastics Company noted that the plastics manufacturer is being eyed by Nawaplastic Industry (Saraburi), a Thai group. However, the Thai group, after many attempts, holds only a modest proportion of Tien Phong Plastics’ shares, even though it wants to penetrate more deeply into the Vietnamese plastics market, which has a lot of potential. Manh Ha, VNN