News
All Nippon Airways confirms 8.8% stake in Vietnam Airlines
January 15th 2016
Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA’s) long quest for a strategic investor is over after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan's ANA Holdings, the parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA), for an $108 million 8.8% holding. Read More » The sale could be completed as soon as mid-year, VNA CEO, Pham Ngoc Minh, told Reuters.
VNA was seeking a partner prepared to acquire up to 20% equity and it is unclear why it has settled on 8.8% or if the Hanoi-headquartered flag carrier is interested in other partners.
VNA chairman, Pham Viet Thanh, said the cooperation with ANA would help the SkyTeam carrier acquire new management technology, expand the market, improve service quality and increase competitiveness in international markets. CEO Pham earlier said the proceeds from the sale would be used to fund VNA’s fleet renewal plans. The carrier has inducted four A350s and five B787-9s into its fleet in recent months.
ANA said an ANA director would be appointed to the VNA board. The partnership will undoubtedly enhance ANA’s access to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, a region with one of the highest growth forecasts in the Asia-Pacific.
VNA, which hopes to lift pre-tax profit 64%, to 2.3 trillion dong ($103 million) this year, competes with domestic low-cost carrier VietJet Air, which has 99 A320 Family aircraft on order to serve domestic, regional business and leisure routes.
