briefs

Siam Cement Group is spending Bt2.6 billion to buy shares in two subsidiaries from Japan’s Toto Group, for consolidation aimed at facilitating business expansion and promoting other business synergies. 

Toto’s shares in Siam Sanitary Ware Co and Siam Sanitary Fittings Co will be sold to SCG. This will boost SCG’s stakes in the two companies to 71.4 per cent (from 35.7 per cent) and 90.6 per cent (from 44.8 per cent) respectively. 

In return, all of SCG’s 40-per-cent stake in Toto Manufacturing (Thailand) Co, a manufacturer of sanitary ware and fitting products, will be transferred to Toto Group for Bt368 million.

 

PTTGC rating affirmed

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its “BBB” long-term corporate credit rating on PTT Global Chemical. The outlook is stable.

At the same time, the company affirmed its “axA” Asean regional scale rating on the company. It also affirmed its “BBB” issue rating on the company’s senior unsecured notes due in 2015 and 2022.

 

‘Geeks on a Plane’

Total Access Communication (DTAC) invited a group of executives from a leading US-based start-up incubator called “500 Start-ups” to conduct a “Geeks on a Plane” tour to give Thai mobile-application developers a rare opportunity to have their products presented to venture-capital investors and start-up specialists.

The founder of 500 Start-ups, Dave McClure, is a prominent angel investor from Silicon Valley, an adviser for start-ups, a blogger, and the man who created a start-ups craze in India.

Geeks on a Plane is more than 30 people comprising investors, developers, visionaries, influencers, and businesspeople in search of IT talents and innovations worthy of investment. 

Organised by 500 Start-ups, Geeks on a Plane is an invite-only tour for start-ups, investors and executives to learn about burgeoning technology markets worldwide.

 

SIW appointment

Siam Industrial Wire Co (SIW) announced that Pek Chong Hoong had been appointed as the company’s managing director, while he will continue to hold the position of managing director of TSN Wires Co. 

In the new role, which took effect on January 1, Hoong is responsible for taking the company to a leading position in the Asean wire industry. He is also tasked with strategic planning for business expansion and leading the marketing function for the steel company, as well as forging successful business partnerships, bringing the company to a leading position in the industry. 

SIW is the largest producer of high-tensile-steel wire for pre-stressed concrete wire and strand products for the construction industry. It reports directly to NatSteel Holdings in Singapore. 

 

FPO to lower 2013 growth forecast

Amid risks to the global economy, the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) will revise downward next month its estimate for this year’s economic growth after lower-than-expected first-quarter expansion. 

Ekniti Nitithanprapas, FPO deputy director-general, said that the likely slower global growth, particularly from China, could affect Thai exports. The FPO’s previous growth estimate for 2013 was set at 5.3 per cent. 

However, positive factors remain in terms of public investment, especially the infrastructure mega-project, which is expected to in turn stimulate private investment.

He expected the interest rates to continue on a downward trend due to higher risks to Thai economic growth, while the baht was forecast to weaken after the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee cut the policy rate.  

 

Central buys flat-price store operator 

Central Department Store, a unit of Central Retail Corporation (CRC), yesterday announced its acquisition of a 51-per-cent stake in Thai Watts. The company will cooperate with Watts Co Ltd (Japan), an expert in uniform-price product management for over 18 years in Japan, to bring the branded Bt60 flat-price Komonoya stores to Thailand.