Samsung arm increases ownership in Vietnam IT firm

Its combined 30 percent stake now, after buying a 25 percent stake comprising newly issued shares last month, is reportedly worth over $40 million.

CMC said it would use most of the proceeds for developing Internet of things (IOT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with Samsung SDS, the systems development subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

CMC Chairman and CEO Nguyen Trung Chinh said this commitment from Samsung would propel CMC into the global league in the next five years and double its overseas sales to more than 30 percent of total sales by 2023.

CMC also aims to integrate its IT systems with Samsung SDS’s and use IOT and AI to automate production lines, a model that would be implemented first in Vietnam before being exported to other markets, he said.

Samsung SDS had announced in late July it would buy a 25 percent stake in CMC through a private placement, which it hoped would accelerate its foray into Vietnam’s fledgling cloud market and other markets in Southeast Asia.

Samsung Electronics has two smartphone factories in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen, which produce more than 150 million units a year, or half of Samsung’s all global sales.

It also has a home appliances factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Last year Samsung products accounted for over $60 billion of Vietnam’s exports, or around 25 percent of its total.

Founded in 1993, CMC is one of Vietnam’s largest IT services companies with revenues of VND5.23 trillion ($224 million) in 2018.

The Hanoi company has eight subsidiaries and 3,000 employees, and it works mainly in system integration, software development, cloud computing, and IT infrastructure management.

The strategic partnership would also help CMC’s goal of reaching $1 billion in sales by 2023, Chinh said.