Raito Kogyo Group from Japan has become a strategic partner of Fecon Corporation (FCN) after buying 19.5 million shares, equal to a 17.13 per cent stake.

The shares were converted from two lots of convertible bonds that Raito Kogyo had bought from the Japan South East Asia Growth Fund (JSEAG), a member of the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).

JSEAG bought the convertible bonds from Fecon in 2016 at a total value of VND500 billion (US$21.460 million).

The two lots of bonds have a maturity date of April 21, 2019 and have now been successfully converted to shares.

In April 2019, Fecon and Raito Kogyo announced a comprehensive strategic co-operation. Fecon and Raito will jointly deploy new businesses using slope stabilisation technology which has already proved successful in Japan.

They also joined to establish Raito Fecon Innovative Geotechnical Engineering JSC (RFI) in 2016.

Fecon and Raito Kogyo will work together to research, develop and implement transport infrastructure projects (roads, ports and waterways), urban railway projects and underground drainage system projects in Ha Noi and HCM City. They will also collaborate to prevent landslides and mitigate natural disasters in Viet Nam and other Southeast Asian countries.

Raito is one of the major construction corporations in Japan with 70 years of operation in foundation construction. Raito has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since 1979. As of March 2018, its total consolidated net assets reached 58.7 billion yen ($536.9 million), with consolidated revenue of 100.1 billion yen ($915.5 million).

Fecon is one of the biggest underground construction contractors in Viet Nam with 15 years of experience. The enterprise currently has 17 member companies, including joint venture enterprises in Myanmar.

In 2018, Fecon recorded a total revenue of VND2.86 trillion ($124.35 million) and after-tax profit of VND252 billion, up more than 42 per cent compared to 2017. The revenue growth target for 2019 is VND4.2 trillion, up 47 per cent. — VNS