Samsung is to buy a 10% stake in rival phone manufacturer Pantech, Digital Spy said.

The Galaxy S4 maker will pay 53 billion won ($47.6 million) for the stake in Pantech, South Korea's third-largest handset maker.

The deal will allow both companies to work closely, particularly in the area of smartphones, ZDNet reports.

Samsung's investment makes it the third-largest stakeholder in Pantech, behind US mobile chip manufacturer Qualcomm (11.96% stake) and state-run Korea Development Bank (11.81% stake).

Pantech has been struggling financially recently and currently trails behind fellow South Korean firms Samsung and LG Electronics in mobile phone sales.

It has a number of devices on sale in the US through AT&T and Verizon, including its Android-run Pantech Marauder.