Shareholders of An Phu Irradiation (APC) approved the company's merger plan with rival company Thai Son Company Ltd on Wednesday. — Photo vietstock.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shareholders of An Phu Irradiation (APC) approved the company's merger plan with rival company Thai Son Company Ltd on Wednesday.

At An Phu's shareholder meeting, four of five management board members and two-thirds of the supervisory board announced their resignations. Replacing them were five Thai Son executives.

After SSI Asset Management and Transimex Saigon (TMS) divested, Thai Son bought the shares and is currently holding more than half of An Phu, said the listed irradiation company chairman, Vo Huu Hiep.

As rivals, the competition with Thai Son made An Phu's product prices decline while costs kept on increasing, although An Phu accounted for the highest market share at 60 per cent.

If An Phu is merged with Thai Son, the new company will take up to 70 per cent of the market and be able to control prices, Hiep noted.

Meanwhile, demand for irradiation is rising, particularly from the seafood and fruit export sectors. Therefore, An Phu plans to work with Thai Son to build a new factory in northern Viet Nam to take advantage of these opportunities.

APC had been sluggishly traded at about VND12,000 (US$0.56). However, the stock has been rising since late August. It closed yesterday at VND18,400 ($0.86).

According to the latest financial report, An Phu's revenues reached VND44.3 billion ($2 million) and its net profits reached VND11 billion ($516,400) in the first half of 2014. — VNS