The southern bourse-listed Saigon Securities Company (SSI) has become a strategic shareholder of the Electronics Communication Technology Investment Development Corporation (ELCOM) with the purchase of 1.52 million shares, equivalent to 8.58 per cent of ELCOM's charter capital.

ELCOM enjoyed recent success with the issuance of 5.43 million shares, of which more than 1.84 million were allocated to existing shareholders in the form of a dividend payment in shares. More than 2.97 million shares were offered to strategic partners and 613,500 were reserved for the company's key staff members.

Strategic partners SSI and SSI Vision Fund purchased 1.4 million of the 2.97 million offered, while SSI Asset Management Co Ltd (SSIAM) acquired 120,000. The DSCAP-SSIAM Vietnam Growth Investment Fund LLC, an offshore joint-venture unlisted-share investment fund between SSIAM and Japanese Daiwa SMBC Capital Co., Ltd, purchased 480,000 shares.

After the shares were issued, ELCOM's charter capital increased to VND177 billion (US$9.3 million).

As a strategic partner, SSI will support and consult with ELCOM on corporate management activities and participate in business development opportunities.

SSI yesterday closed unchanged at VND43,900 ($2.31) on a volume of 1,563,440 shares traded.

ELCOM, founded in 1995, operates in the fields of information technology, electronic telecommunications, automation and environmental engineering. It offers telecommunication software and equipment for network providers such as Vinaphone, Mobiphone and Viettel.

Last year, the company earned a net profit of VND88 billion ($4.6 million) and its earnings per share (EPS) was VND7,172 ($0.38).

ELCOM yesterday completed its list of shareholders to participate in the 2010 annual shareholders meeting.