Briefs

Nippon Pack (Thailand) Co Ltd will spend Bt80 million to take a 20.51-per-cent stake in Udon Plaza Co Ltd, operator of UD Town in Udon Thani province. 

The move into the property sector is a diversification strategy for the manufacturer of retail and food packaging, managing director Surapong Treamchanchai said. 

The company’s investment in Udon Plaza will focus on development of a hotel and convention centre in Udon Thani that will serve as a gateway for cross-border trade with Laos in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), he said.

Nippon Pack is also investing Bt60 million to expand its packaging plant on Rama II Road, which aims to boost the company’s revenue growth by 40 per cent this year compared with the year before. 

Udon Plaza’s four-star hotel and convention centre will cost Bt120 million and will be situated on two rai at UD Town. The project will be complete by 2015, just in time for the AEC. The company also plans to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014, with revenue targets for this year set for Bt150 million, up Bt10 million from last year, company president Thanakorn Verachatiyanukul said.

 

PTT boosts capital in Phenol 2

PTT Global Chemical Plc’s board has resolved to approve an increase in capital for PTT Phenol Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, investing $348.3 million (Bt10.4 billion) in the Phenol 2 project, which will have phenol and acetone nameplate capacity of 250,000 tonnes and 155,000 tonnes per year, respectively. 

This will require benzene (approximately 220,000 tonnes per year) and propylene (approximately 119,000 tonnes per year) from PTT Global Chemical as main feedstock. The source of the funds include equity of Bt3.5 billion and a long-term loan of Bt7 billion, where the equity portion is from the payment for the shares that were not fully paid in the amount of Bt900.8 million and increased capital in the amount of Bt2.59 billion.

Consequently, PTT Phenol Co Ltd will increase its existing authorised capital from Bt9.25 billion, with par value of Bt100, to Bt11.85 billion.

 

European roadshow a success

More than 300 meetings were held during a recent roadshow in Europe, hosted by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) with ACL Securities and BNP Paribas Thailand.

The event from June 17 to 21 covered Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland and England.

Chainitr Charnchainarong, executive vice president and head of the issuer and listing division, said the roadshow 2013 was highly successful, with more than 100 institutional investors in six countries meeting Thai executives.

Richard Markarian, managing director of ACL Securities, said European investors showed their interest in discussing in-depth business insights and strategies with Thai executives.

Naris Cheyklin, senior executive vice president of Central Pattana, said foreign investors were keenly interested in the expansion of domestic and regional consumption together with the role of Thailand as an economic centre for Asean.

 

Water-management consortium forms

Global Environmental Technology Co Ltd (GETCO), which is 49 per cent-owned by TEE International Ltd’s wholly-owned subsidiary TEE Resources Pte Ltd, has formed a consortium with Cisco Engineering Co Ltd (CISCO) and Lam Water Solution Co Ltd (LAM) to enter into a contract with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to manage and control the water level in the Makkasan Water Catchment area. 

The contract is worth Bt209.78 million (VAT inclusive) and commenced from May 1, 2013 for a period of three years. 

GETCO, CISCO and LAM will own 30 per cent, 50 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in the consortium, giving TEE International Ltd a controlling interest of 14.7 per cent.

TEE’s directors do not anticipate that the transaction will have any material impact on the group’s earnings and net tangible assets per share for the financial year ending May 31, 2014.