Bee Taechaubol, owner of Global Estate, a major shareholder in the fund, yesterday dismissed rumours that the targeted IT firm was International Engineering Plc (IEC), in which Bee holds 3.49 per cent.

"I admit that the fund is interested in investing in IEC because of its business outlook. IEC is undergoing due diligence as part of its plan to merge with Bliss-Tel Plc," he said. "But there is no conclusion yet about the merger structure.

"If the deal goes through, the merged entity would become No 1 in the retail mobile phone distributor business and at that point it would become attractive."

Seamico Securities is IEC's financial adviser for the due diligence, which is scheduled for completion on July 28.

Media reports have suggested that IEC would be responsible for ordering cell phones and accessories from manufacturers while Bliss-Tel would be in charge of retail sales following the merger.

IEC's net profit in the first three months of the year surged to Bt104.2 million from Bt25 million in the same period last year.

IEC's stock yesterday jumped 8.1 per cent to Bt2.40.

Bee would not identify the fund's target or how much would be invested. The recently established Opus Thailand Opportunity Fund is a hedge fund with US$10 million (Bt382 million) and is expected to grow to $500 million within 18 months, with 40 per cent invested here and the rest in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

The fund focuses on the IT, energy and export-oriented companies.