Thailand Business Roundup
4G re-auction brought forward
The government has brought forward the re-auction of a fourth-generation (4G) mobile licence by about a month from a previous date of 24 June after the winner of one auction (Jasmine Internatiional), last December, forfeited after failing to make its first payment.
Aside from Jasmine, all existing operators, including True Corp, will be
eligible to participate in the auction. True Group won two 4G licences in auctions last year.
The starting price for the auction would be 75.65 billion baht, the level of Jasmine’s winning bid.
Solar power IPO
BCPG Pcl, a renewable energy unit of Thailand’s oil refinery Bangchak
Petroleum Pcl (BPC), expects to raise over three billion baht from selling a maximum 600 million shares in an initial public offering (IPO) in the third quarter.
The IPO shares makes up for 30 per cent of its registered and paid capital at the par value of five baht apiece.
Most of the proceeds will be invested in renewable energy projects domestically and internationally.
The company has 14 solar power plants, some of which are under construction, and is in talks to co-invest in one more solar farm in Japan.
BCPG presently has 47 affiliates, of which six are in Thailand with a combined electricity generating capacity of 118 MW while 41 are overseas with capacity of 164 MW.
Thai company invests in Indian infrastructure sector
GP Group will invest the equivalent of around US$38 million in the major Indian infrastructure company Gammon India, specifically its civil engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) arm — Gammon Retail Infrastructure Private Ltd. GP Group will take 75 per cent stake in the company following the investment.
The entire transaction is expected to be completed in 12 months.
The civil EPC business includes projects in roads, hydropower, nuclear power, tunnels, bridges, buildings, cooling towers, chimneys and other sectors.
Thai canned tuna company looks to Indonesia and Bangladesh
Thai Union Group Pcl, the world’s largest canned tuna firm, has announced plans to consider acquisitions and investments in the shrimp sector in Indonesia and Bangladesh. The aim is to reduce its reliance on domestic sources of the seafood, its second-biggest business.
Thailand’s shrimp output was hit by a serious disease in 2013, and although it has recovered, output in Thailand is still less than half of pre-disease levels.
Thai Union wants to generate US$1.2 billion in revenue from new businesses over the next five years, and management have said they will focus on China,
the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Thai Union is aiming to obtain US$2.6 billion in annual revenue from its shrimp business by 2020.
The company has also bought a 40 percent stake in the shrimp processing unit of India’s Avanti Feeds Ltd.
