Ocean Containers Ltd, an off-dock service provider, plans to be fully integrated with its parent company, Summit Alliance Port Ltd, as part of a new business strategy.

“The amalgamation will make us a market leader in the off-dock service industry as cost of doing business will be reduced,” said Fazlul Haque, director and company secretary of Summit Alliance Port.

Since both the listed companies are operating in the same area, operating costs for supervisory, accounts and IT will be reduced after the amalgamation, he said.

“Shareholders will also be benefited from the merger, as they will get more return from their investment,” he said.

The boards of directors of the two companies in separate meetings have approved a draft scheme of the merger, according to postings on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website on Thursday.

As per the terms of the merger, 1 share of Ocean Containers will be worth 1.0736 shares of Summit Alliance Port.

The exchange rate has been fixed by the weighted average of net asset value on September 30, 2012 and average market price for six months to September 30, 2012 on the DSE.

The merger, however, is subject to approval from the High Court and the regulatory authorities.

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Each share of Summit Alliance Port was traded between Tk 33 and Tk 34.90 before closing at Tk 33.60, while each Ocean Containers share was traded betweenTk34.20 andTk 35.10 before closing atTk34.40, onThursday.

Summit Alliance Port, listed on the stockmarket since 2008, is an entity of the Summit Group and Alliance Holdings Ltd, while Ocean Containers, listed in2010, is a subsidiary of Summit Alliance Port.