The scheme of share issuance was approved by PAN Group’s board of directors on September 7. Accordingly, PAN Group will offer 14,861,818 shares priced at VND55,000 each to Sojitz Corporation, the group’s strategic investor.

The share sale is expected to generate some VND817 billion, which the group intends to use for capital contribution to member firms and M&A projects in the agriculture, nutritious material and packaged food and beverage sectors. The share issuance is slated for the fourth quarter of this year.

Nguyen Duy Hung, chairman of PAN Group, earlier said at the group’s 2018 general meeting on April 21 that M&As would be a strategic focus of the group this year. PAN Group expects to set aside VND1 trillion for the M&A deals, buying into companies with growth potential, whose names have yet to be revealed.

Agriculture and food, considered the group’s core business sectors, contributed a significant proportion of the group’s revenue, recorded at VND2.605 trillion and VND941 billion, respectively, according to PAN Group’s six-month financial report.

As such, the parent company’s after-tax profit amounted to VND113 billion, up a staggering 66% year-on-year.