The National Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NCB) has said it initiated a process to collect the written opinions of its shareholders and “quickly” obtain their approval for the bank to sell 203 million shares, or an almost 11% stake, in Tre Viet Aviation Joint Stock Company, the legal name for Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi Noi Bai International) (BAV), the investor news site Nhadautu reported.

The privately-owned bank is looking to sell the shareholding for just over VND1.12 trillion dong (USD47.8 million), or VND5,518 (USD0.2359) per share.

As ch-aviation reported in early May, the loss-making airline had previously pledged the shares as collateral for loans taken from the bank. The bank clarified that the sale would fully cover the loan’s principal and interest and that the payment method will be negotiated with the buyer.

“Based on the capital needs for production and business activities and its current situation, the NCB urgently needs to speed up the processing of the BAV shares that it is holding to recover capital for the bank quickly. The transfer of the BAV shares using the process of negotiation for the proposed transfer price will reduce the cost and implementation time and recover enough capital for the bank soon,” the financial institution said.

Bamboo Airways currently has a charter capital of VND18.5 trillion (USD790 million), equivalent to 1.85 billion shares, but on May 9 the carrier announced that its shareholders had backed, on the second attempt, a share issue that will raise its charter capital to VND30 trillion (USD1.28 billion).