MILAN – The Coffee Queen exits the scene – Le Hoang Diep Thao, co-founder of Trung Nguyen Group has transferred all of her shares in the Trung Nguyen empire she ran with her ex-husband Dang Le Nguyen Vu, pursuant to their final divorce ruling.
In fact, Dang Le Nguyen Vu, founding chairman and general director of Trung Nguyen Group (TNG), has bought all the group shares held by his ex-wife and former deputy director of the Group, so that she is no longer on the company’s list of shareholders, TNG announced in a statement Wednesday.
Dang Le Nguyen Vu now owns all shares in the coffee giant and its subsidiaries, and has full control of the Group.
According to an announcement by the group, Vu paid Thao VND1.19 trillion, or $51 million.
Trung Nguyen Group is the largest domestic coffee brand in Vietnam. The company exports its products to more than 60 countries, including major markets.
On December 5 last year, the HCMC Superior People’s Court made its final ruling on the divorce case between Vu and Thao.
The court determined that Vu had made more contributions to the establishment and development of the coffee empire than Le Hoang Diep Thao, so it gave him 60% of the group’s shares and Thao, 40%.
On January 13, the Ho Chi Minh City Civil Judgment Execution Department had confirmed that it received Vu’s payment of the above VND1.19 trillion in full.
The same day, the department also received a written request from the Supreme People’s Procuracy to postpone execution of the ruling, to give it time to “consider a cassation request Thao had submitted on the judgement.”
But because Vu had already fulfilled his obligations in accordance with the judgment in question, the City Civil Judgment Execution Department went ahead with the execution, and notified the Supreme People’s Procuracy of its action on January 16.
Vu and Thao, who got married in 1998, differed on how the group, which had developed one of the biggest brands in the country, should be run. In 2015, Thao filed for divorce.