As of February, FPT owned 85% of FPT Retail and 100% of FPT Trading, its distribution unit, FPT said in an email responding to Reuters questions on March 23. The sections accounted for a quarter of FPT's profit last year.

Technology retail businesses like FPT and rival Mobile World Investment Corp, whose net income soared 60% last year, have been benefiting from Vietnam's tech-savvy 90-million population.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Vietnam grew 26% to 124 million during 2009-2013, latest data from the government showed.

FPT was Apple's sole distributor in Vietnam until late last year and its retail flagship store chain, FPT Shop, reported a 335% jump in annual net profit in 2015 with 252 stores after four years in operation, the company said.

FPT declined to disclose the amount of shares it plans to offload or the value of the units. FPT Trading, which also operates in Cambodia, Myanmar and Nigeria, has VND680 billion (US$30.4 million) in registered capital while FPT Retail has 200 billion dong.

FPT wants to focus on its core businesses, information technology and telecommunication, which accounted for 70% of profit last year, and to find investors with financial expertise and international business and management experiences to boost performance in retail and distribution.

The firm said it has signed an advisory contract with Japan's Nomura Securities and local Viet Capital Securities to carry out the deal.