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Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, Founder of Tan Tan Peanut Brand. Photo: Tan Tan |
Who owns Tan Tan?
The People’s Procuracy of Di An City, Binh Duong Province has recently issued an indictment to prosecute Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, the founder of the brand and former Chairman and Director of Tan Tan Joint Stock Company (specializing in peanut production), for tax evasion and non-compliance with civil judgments. At the same time, Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, Mr. Tan’s younger brother and a member of Tan Tan’s Board of Directors, was also indicted for non-compliance with the judgment.
Starting as a peanut frying facility in 1984, Tan Tan once dominated the market with familiar brands such as Coconut Water Peanuts, Fish Skin Peanuts, Amero Peanuts, and Wasabi Cashews. During its golden age, the company had over 140 distributors, more than 40,000 retail outlets, and a presence in most supermarkets and shopping malls, capturing 80% of the market share nationwide. Almost every product of Tan Tan has left a deep impression on the memories of many generations of Vietnamese people, from daily snacks to holiday and Tet gift baskets.
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Familiar product lines from the Tan Tan brand |
In addition, Tan Tan has successfully exported to markets such as the US, South Korea, China, Nigeria, and Cuba. However, the golden period did not last long as the company faced scandals in both business and legal aspects.
Tan Tan’s chartered capital is VND 80 billion. At its establishment, the company had three shareholders who were family members, including Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, holding 80% of the capital; Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung (Mr. Tan’s wife) and Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan (Mr. Tan’s younger brother), each holding 10%.
In mid-2011, Mr. Tan transferred to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh nearly 3.67 million shares, equivalent to 45.83% of the capital. By the end of 2017, Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung’s shares were sold by the company at an auction, and Ms. Vuong Le Xuan bought 9.78% of Tan Tan’s chartered capital.
According to the shareholder register published by the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Tan Tan, there are five individual shareholders, including Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, holding 45.83% of Tan Tan’s chartered capital; Mr. Tran Quoc Tan holding 34.17%; Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan with 10%; Ms. Vuong Le Xuan with 9.78%, and Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung with 0.22%.
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Changes in Tan Tan’s shareholder structure |
Prolonged dispute with shareholders
After becoming a shareholder, for a long time, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh repeatedly requested the Board of Directors to convene an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to elect a new Board, provide information on business operations, financial reports, and evaluate the company’s performance, but Mr. Tran Quoc Tan did not comply.
At the end of 2015, Ms. Thanh continued to file a lawsuit requesting the convening of the Board of Directors and asking Mr. Tan to hand over books, contracts, and accounting documents for compulsory audit. The court later ruled that the Board of Directors must convene an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to elect a new Board; and allow Ms. Thanh to examine, transcribe minutes, resolutions, and financial reports of the company.
On April 23, the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Tan Tan was successfully held with two shareholders, representing nearly 4.45 million shares, or 55.61% of the total voting shares. According to this ratio, the two shareholders attending the meeting were likely Ms. Thanh and Ms. Xuan.
The report of the Board of Directors of Tan Tan at the Annual General Meeting stated that the meeting of the Board of Directors on May 28, 2022, agreed to elect Mr. Le Hong Phuong as Chairman of the Board, and at the same time, relieve Mr. Tran Quoc Tan of his duties as Director and legal representative. Instead, these positions would be held by Mr. Phuong.
On January 11, 2024, Tan Tan was granted a new business registration certificate by the Business Registration Office of the Binh Duong Province Department of Planning and Investment. The company’s legal representative was changed from Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, Chairman and Director, to Mr. Le Hong Phuong, Director. As of this date, the company’s chartered capital was VND 80 billion, equivalent to 8 million shares.
After the change in the legal representative, Mr. Le Hong Phuong requested Mr. Tran Quoc Tan to hand over work-related documents, books, records, assets, debts, etc., to the new management, but Mr. Tan and the former board of directors did not comply.
Mr. Phuong stated that he had been prevented from entering the company’s headquarters on multiple occasions. The entire premises of the headquarters had been occupied and illegally managed by Tan Tan Trading – Production – Cultivation One-Member Limited Company, owned by Mr. Tran Quoc Gia Phuoc, Mr. Tan’s son. Mr. Phuong reported the incident to the authorities, but it has not been resolved yet.
According to the Board of Directors’ report, as of January 31, 2024, Tan Tan owed nearly VND 61.8 billion in taxes and nearly VND 6.3 billion in social insurance as of March 2024. The company also owes debts to creditors under more than 50 court judgments that have come into effect but have not been resolved.
Tan Tan is also being sued by the Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (VietinBank) – Branch 8, which has seized about 2/5 of the company’s assets. Additionally, the company is being sued by the Vietnam Foreign Trade Joint Stock Bank (Vietcombank) – Ho Chi Minh City Branch at the People’s Court of District 1 to seize the remaining assets of the company. Furthermore, as of March 31, 2023, the company owed nearly VND 27.6 billion to VID Public Bank – Binh Duong Branch, and this debt has been classified as bad and overdue.
Moreover, Mr. Le Hong Phuong discovered documents indicating that during their management of Tan Tan, Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung, and Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan had used the company’s name to engage in circular transactions with suspicious signs with family-owned companies (Sing Sing Joint Stock Company, Trân Châu Import-Export Production Trading Service Co., Ltd., Tan Tan Trading – Production – Cultivation One-Member Limited Company, Tan Tan Tra Vinh Joint Stock Company, etc.). These transactions involved bank loans, non-payment for goods, and withdrawal of money from Tan Tan, with signs of asset appropriation.
Finally, the General Meeting of Shareholders of Tan Tan decided to consider and handle the responsibilities of individuals, including Mr. Tran Quoc Tan, Ms. Chau Ngoc Phung, and Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, as well as their compensation for the damages caused to Tan Tan and its shareholders. It is understood that all documents of the meeting were signed and sealed by Mr. Le Hong Phuong according to the new seal sample that the company changed on January 25, 2024.
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How much of Tan Tan’s assets remain? According to the published financial statements for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, Tan Tan did not disclose detailed business indicators. However, the undistributed post-tax profit at the end of 2023 was negative by nearly VND 2 billion, equivalent to owner’s equity of over VND 78 billion. On the balance sheet, Tan Tan’s total assets remained at VND 371.3 billion. Short-term assets accounted for the largest proportion, at nearly VND 234 billion, including VND 95.3 billion in trading securities, VND 87.5 billion in short-term receivables from customers, VND 39.4 billion in inventory, and only over VND 157 million in cash. On the other side of the balance sheet, the company’s liabilities as of the end of 2023 were more than VND 293.3 billion, mainly short-term debts, including over VND 160.5 billion in loan principal. |
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The Minh
