Taiwanese shipping company Wan Hai Lines has acquired a 20 per cent stake in Da Nang Port JSC to become the new principle shareholder of the Vietnamese port.

The Taiwanese firm purchased Da Nang Port shares through its sub-unit Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Wan Hai Lines bought 19.83 million shares in Da Nang Port JSC via put-through transactions last Friday, the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Da Nang Port shares were purchased for VND20,000 (US$0.86) per share, bringing the total value of the deal to VND396.6 billion ($17 million).

On Wednesday, the Vietnamese firm announced two of its principle shareholders – Lam Thi Mai and Vu Van Hai – had sold all their 11.55 million shares.

Mai and Hai owned 5.91 per cent and 5.76 per cent of Da Nang Port JSC before the deal.

Other sellers remain unknown. The largest shareholder in Da Nang Port JSC is the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), which owns 75 per cent.

The port’s management firm started putting its 66 million shares up for trade on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) on March 30, 2016 under code CDN.

The company cancelled its UPCoM launch and moved to the HNX on November 30, 2016. Its market ticket remained unchanged.

One year after moving from UPCoM to HNX, the company sold 33 million preferred shares to raise capital to VND990 billion.

In 2018, the company earned VND695 billion in total revenue, up 15.6 per cent year on year, and VND148 billion in post-tax profit, up 12.6 per cent year on year. — VNS