Vietnam's Mekong Housing Bank sets IPO on July 20

HANOI, June 24, 2011

HANOI, June 24 (Reuters) - Mekong Housing Bank (MHB), one of Vietnam's five remaining wholly state-owned lenders, plans to raise at least 710.6 billion dong ($34.6 million) in its initial public offering next month, the country's main stock exchange said.

Ho Chi Minh City-based MHB is expected to auction nearly 64.6 million shares at a starting price of 11,000 dong on July 20, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

The shares planned for the IPO represent 14.31 percent of MHB's registered capital of nearly 4.52 trillion dong.

The state will retain a 68.1 percent stake, while MHB can sell 14.34 percent in a domestic auction, 0.56 percent to its employees, 2 percent for the trade union, and 15 percent to a strategic partner, the central bank has said.

Vietcombank and VietinBank are Vietnam's first two state-run lenders to have sold shares and listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

VietinBank has sold a 10 percent stake to the International Finance Corporation.

Another state-run lender, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, or BIDV, said in March it plans to step up its privatisation process. The plan has been on hold for several years.

The government has cut Vietnam's annual credit growth target to below 20 percent this year to curb inflation, from an initial target of 23 percent, after loans jumped 27.65 percent in 2010.

($1=20,560 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Matt Driskill)