Fish sauce firm racks up equity

VIETNAM'S Masan Group said leading global investment group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP (KKR) will pay $159 million to acquire a 10% equity stake in its retail unit, Masan Consumer, valuing the company at $1.6 billion. This represents the biggest-ever private equity transaction in the country.
The transaction is the first in Viet Nam and the fourth investment in Southeast Asia for New York-based KKR, a company with USD 61.0 billion in assets under management. "This investment demonstrates our strong conviction in the business prospects of Masan Consumer, as well as in Vietnam as a whole," KKR said in a statement in mid-April.
Over the past two years, Masan has raised about $500 million in private equity capital and is one of Vietnam's main listed private sector groups. Masan Consumer is the fastest-growing FMCG company in the region in terms of growth, posting net profit climbed to $60 million in 2010 from $19 million two years earlier on sales of fish sauce as well as soy and chilli condiments.Heel Shoes Boat Shoes