A written shareholder ballot usually carries a few procedural questions. The one Gelex Electricity JSC (HoSE: GEE) is about to send out carries two very different kinds. The first looks ahead: should the company rename itself GELEX Industries and add information technology, research and development, and industrial materials to its registered business lines? The second deals with a governance problem: should shareholders remove Đặng Phan Tường, a board member who has just been formally charged?
On October 2, GEE published a board resolution approving the materials for a written shareholder vote. The ballot covers the name change, amendments and additions to the company's business lines, changes to the charter, the removal of one board member, and the election of a replacement for the remainder of the 2025–2030 term.DNSE Everything is still at the proposal stage, and shareholders have approved nothing yet. Looked at closely, the ballot tells two separate stories, and they are best read apart.
The new name and the board's rationale
If shareholders approve, the Vietnamese name changes from Công ty CP Điện lực GELEX to Công ty CP Công nghiệp GELEX. The English name moves from Gelex Electricity Joint Stock Company to GELEX Industries Joint Stock Company, shortened to GELEX Industries.Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ
The board's explanation is brief. It says the company is expanding from electrical equipment into industry, materials and technology, so the current name "does not fully reflect the scope of operations and development direction in the new phase." A broader name, the board argues, would better fit its "future investment portfolio" and help build long-term brand recognition.DNSE
This is not the first time GEE has used its name to signal strategy. In 2022, the company held a written shareholder vote to change from Gelex Electrical Equipment JSC to Gelex Electricity, which passed with 95.83% of eligible votes in favor.Thanh Niên "Electricity" was chosen then because the company both made electrical equipment and owned power plants. Four years later, the board says that same word has become too narrow.
Three groups of new business lines
The list of new business lines is more specific than the name itself. According to the documents cited by DNSE, the additions fall into three groups.DNSE
- Information technology: computer programming, software publishing, IT infrastructure consulting and management, and trading and repair of IT equipment.
- Research and development: research and testing in digital technology, the Internet of Things and sensors; technology consulting and transfer; and licensing intellectual property such as patents, industrial designs and semiconductor integrated-circuit layouts.
- Industrial materials: wholesale of industrial chemicals, primary plastics, rubber, textile fibers and certain other products.
This list should be read for what it is. Registering a business line is a legal formality that permits a company to do something. It says nothing about whether the company already has a plant, a contract or a customer in that field. None of the press coverage of the proposal mentions a specific project or investment in any of the three groups.
Meanwhile, GEE still makes its money from familiar electrical equipment brands: Cadivi, Emic, Thibidi, HEM, CFT and MEE. Together they cover products from transmission to distribution and household use.DNSE Put differently, if the rename passes, the name will be at least one step ahead of the revenue mix.
The leadership changes that began on September 14
The personnel items on the ballot trace back three weeks. On September 14, Dong Anh Electrical Equipment Corporation (EEMC, ticker TBD) disclosed that it had been notified by the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security that Mr. Tường had been formally charged. The charge came during the investigation of a case involving the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT), PC1 Group and related companies.Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ Before joining the GELEX group, Mr. Tường chaired EVNNPT's Members' Council from September 2011 to early September 2020.VietTimes
What stands out is how many seats he held at once across the group. He sat on the boards of GEE, EEMC and Cadivi, and chaired the board of Thibidi.DNSE Replacing him therefore has to run through several boards, not just one.
The governance response came quickly. On September 14 itself, the boards of GELEX Electric, Cadivi and Thibidi passed resolutions to hold written shareholder votes on removing Mr. Tường, stating that he no longer fully met the standards and conditions for a board member.GELEX
The next step came at Thibidi. On October 2, an extraordinary shareholder meeting at Thibidi elected Nguyễn Trọng Trung to its board for the 2024–2029 term, and the board then named him chairman.Thibidi Mr. Trung is currently CEO of GELEX Electric and previously served as CEO of Thibidi.Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ The chairmanship of the transformer-making subsidiary has thus passed to the executive who directly runs its parent.
At GEE, Mr. Tường's removal is proposed to take effect on the date the shareholder resolution passes. His replacement will be elected from a list of valid nominees and candidates, which has not yet been published.DNSE
GELEX's position on the case
GELEX Group set out its position in an official statement on its website. According to GELEX, the case concerns Mr. Tường personally, stems from the period before he joined the governance of GELEX Electric and its subsidiaries, and is unrelated to the operations of GELEX or GELEX Electric. The company added that at GEE, Mr. Tường is a board member who does not run day-to-day business. Production, finance and cash flow remain in the hands of the executive team.GELEX
It matters where that assessment comes from. This is a statement by the company. Investigators have not disclosed anything about Mr. Tường's specific role in the case, so the "unrelated" claim should be read as GELEX's view, not as a finding by the authorities.
The share price over the last two sessions
GEE closed at VND 68,500 on October 2, down 4.20%, after falling 5.55% on October 1. On October 2, the VN-Index slipped 0.66% to 1,737.71 points.
It is hard to pin these two declines on the rename news alone. The broader market was also lower on October 2, so profit-taking and general market sentiment may both have played a part. The data available is not enough to isolate the effect of the proposal.
What is settled and what is still pending
For current GEE shareholders, the picture splits into two fairly clear parts.
Settled:
- The board resolution of October 2 approving the shareholder ballot materials described above.
- The board resolutions of September 14 to seek shareholder votes on removing Mr. Tường at GEE, Cadivi and Thibidi.
- Thibidi has had a new board chairman, Mr. Nguyễn Trọng Trung, since October 2.
Pending:
- The record date and the deadline for returning ballots. Press coverage of the resolution has not reported either date, so shareholders should watch for GEE's official notice.
- The name of the nominee for the vacant seat on GEE's board.
- The vote result. The new name and business lines take effect only after shareholders approve them and the company completes the registration of the changes.Người Quan Sát
- The first project, investment or revenue in technology and materials.
A new name is a statement of direction, not a revenue stream
Separating the two halves of the ballot makes the story clearer. The personnel side is a governance response that began on September 14 and is moving step by step: board resolutions, a new chairman at Thibidi, and now the removal vote at GEE. How cleanly GEE's governance is insulated from the case will depend largely on who is elected to replace Mr. Tường.
The rename is a different matter. Like the 2022 change, it is a statement of where the company wants to go, not a source of revenue. The signal that GELEX Industries is more than a label will be GEE announcing its first project or investment outside electrical equipment, followed by revenue from that business showing up in its financial statements. Until then, GEE's results remain tied to orders for cable, transformers and electricity meters.
The milestones to watch next are the record date, the name of the board nominee and the vote result.