Multi-sector Sao Mai Group Corporation (Sao Mai Group) has offered to buy 27 million shares of the International Development and Investment Corporation (IDI) to increase its power in the later one.

Sao Mai Group aims to increase its ownership in IDI to 120 million shares, equal to 66 per cent of charter capital, from the current 93 million shares (51.14 per cent).

The deal will be carried out through both put-through and order-matching transactions on the stock market between September 28 and October 26.

Sao Mai Group is listing nearly 242 million shares on the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE) with code ASM, gaining 0.8 per cent to end Thursday at VND13,150 (US$0.58) apiece.

IDI is listing more than 181.6 million shares on the HoSE with ticker IDI. The firm’s shares rose 1.8 per cent to close Thursday at VND13,800 per share.

At that price level, Sao Mai Group will have to pay VND372.6 billion ($16.56 million) for the deal.

IDI in early September announced it would make a 9 per cent dividend payout, worth VND163.4 billion, for its 2017 results in cash or bonus shares. Dividend payments will be made by the end of this month.

The company also planned to make an advance 11 per cent dividend payment, worth nearly VND199.8 billion, in cash or bonus shares for its performance in 2018. Payments will also be made before October.

In the first six months of 2018, IDI recorded VND2.83 trillion in net income and VND316.5 billion in net profit, accounting for 41 per cent and 55 per cent of its full-year targets.

In the second quarter, IDI recorded VND1.58 trillion in net revenue with tra fish exports accounting for 38 per cent of the firm’s total exports.

According to the company, the price of tra fish kept increasing in the second quarter but the firm managed to buy at lower price levels, so its marginal profit was higher.

Sao Mai Group is now IDI’s biggest shareholder. After the first half of the year, Sao Mai Group posted VND2.7 trillion in net income and VND857 billion in post-tax profit, triple and 18-fold the figures recorded in the same period of 2017. The figures were equal to 28 per cent and 95 per cent of the firm’s 2018 targets. — VNS