SCIC Re-Auctions 63.38% Seaprodex (SEA) Stake at 88% Premium to Market

Overview

State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) will re-auction its entire 79,228,000-share stake in Tổng công ty Thủy sản Việt Nam (Seaprodex, ticker SEA) on November 2 at a floor price of VND 107,400 per share, or VND 8,509 billion for the block. The first attempt in late September failed after no investor registered by the 22 September deadline, and the new floor sits roughly 88% above SEA’s current market price of about VND 57,000.

Key Facts

• SCIC is offering 79,228,000 SEA shares, equal to 63.38% of the company’s charter capital.
• Floor price for the whole block is VND 8,509 billion, or VND 107,400 per share on average.
• The auction is scheduled for 9:00 on November 2; the prior auction closed for registration at 15:30 on 22 September with no bidders.
• SEA traded around VND 57,000 per share, putting the floor price roughly 88% above market.
• Novaland-linked shareholders hold about 32.47% of SEA: Địa ốc Ngân Hiệp with 24.03% and Đầu tư Redwood with 8.44%.
• Seaprodex’s main asset is a 1,522 sqm plot at 2-4-6 Đồng Khởi, Hồ Chí Minh City, of which 1,458 sqm sits outside the road boundary, zoned for a mixed-use tower up to 20 floors.
• In H1 2026, Seaprodex reported net revenue of nearly VND 435 billion and after-tax profit of more than VND 100 billion.

What Happened

SCIC, the government’s investment arm, confirmed it will hold a second auction for its entire Seaprodex holding on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) platform. The first auction, announced with the same VND 8,509 billion floor, lapsed because no investor registered or posted the required deposit by the 22 September cutoff, prompting HNX to cancel the sale. SCIC has not revised the starting price for the retry.

The shareholder structure explains the unusual pricing. SCIC holds 63.38%, while two entities linked to Novaland (NVL) - Địa ốc Ngân Hiệp and Đầu tư Redwood - together control 32.47%, leaving only 4.15% with minority shareholders. Seaprodex’s most valuable asset is its headquarters land at the Đồng Khởi-Tôn Đức Thắng intersection, described in the article as one of the most prime plots in central Hồ Chí Minh City, planned for a hotel, retail, office and apartment complex.

Market Context

SEA trades on UPCOM at around VND 57,000, well below the VND 107,400 floor, so the auction requires a buyer willing to pay a large control premium for a 63.38% stake in a company whose seafood operations generate modest earnings relative to its real-estate asset. The broader market was soft in the week of 5-9 October: VN-Index fell 2.62 points to 1,735.09, HNX-Index dropped 5.15 points to 266.75, and foreign investors sold a net VND 13,988 billion on HOSE across five consecutive sessions. NVL closed at VND 10,950 on 10 October.

Strategic Significance

The auction is effectively a test of whether the Đồng Khởi land bank justifies a valuation far above Seaprodex’s seafood earnings. A successful sale at the floor would validate SCIC’s state-divestment pricing and could unlock a redevelopment path for the site; a second failure would signal that strategic buyers will not pay a premium for a minority-blocked structure where Novaland-linked holders already control nearly a third of the capital. For NVL, any change in SEA’s ownership could alter the dynamics around a prime central Hồ Chí Minh City asset adjacent to its own interests.

What to Watch

• Registration and deposit deadline for the November 2 auction, and whether any investor steps forward this time.
• Any SCIC decision to lower the VND 107,400 floor if the second auction also fails.
• Disclosure from Ngân Hiệp, Redwood or Novaland on whether they intend to bid, sell, or hold.
• Updates on planning approval for the 2-4-6 Đồng Khởi mixed-use project, which underpins the asset value.
• Seaprodex’s Q3 2026 earnings, following H1 net profit of over VND 100 billion.