Vietnam's government is taking an unprecedented step in divesting all it owns in the nation’s two leading beer companies as a growing budget deficit forces the leadership to accelerate a plan to reduce holdings in state-owned firms. The government will sell its entire 89.59 percent stake in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. for $1.8 billion and its 82 percent holding in Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. for $404 million, according to a post on a government news website Wednesday. Saigon Beer, known as Sabeco, will be sold in two tranches in 2016 and 2017, while Hanoi Beer, or Habeco, will be divested this year, it said.
