The state firm that runs 22 airports across Vietnam is set to go public next month, with 77.8 million shares allocated for sale during an initial public offering (IPO), the company said on Thursday.

Following the privatization, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) will have registered capital worth VND22.43 trillion (US$1 billion), or 2.24 billion shares, the firm’s leaders told more than 300 investors at a meeting in Hanoi.

The government will retain a 75 percent stake in the ACV, or 1.68 billion shares, while 20 percent, or 448.62 million shares, will be sold to strategic investors, according to the corporation.

The 77.8 million shares to be offered during the IPO make up a 3.47 percent holding, while the remaining stocks will be sold to the ACV’s employees and labor union.

The ACV’s plan to go public was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 6, as part of a government-backed master plan to restructure and privatize some state enterprises.

The IPO will be held at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on December 10, according to the corporation.

“We have submitted the plan to choose strategic investors to the transport ministry and will publicize those standards soon,” Nguyen Nguyen Hung, chairman of the ACV board of members, said at the meeting.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam currently operates and manages 22 airports countrywide, including seven international terminals. All of the airports have a total capacity of nearly 70 million passengers a year.

“The ACV is a Vietnamese firm with a global brand, and is operating in a very favorable environment,” Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said at the Thursday meeting.

The company is in charge of many major airport development plans, and therefore "promises to deliver significant profit to investors,” Nhat said.

In August the prime minister assigned the ACV as the developer of the $16.03 billion Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai, which is expected to handle 100 million passengers and five million metric tons of cargo a year upon completion.

“After the IPO, the transport ministry will continue supporting the ACV and investors in the implementation of aviation infrastructure projects, especially at Long Thanh,” the deputy minister said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!