K-SME plans to invest Bt50m in SMEs next year
K-SME Venture Capital expects to invest about Bt50 million in three small and medium-sized enterprises in 2015 after investing this year in two high-potential SMEs, Tee Entertainment and Zinco, with combined value of Bt49 million.
The company, which is a member of the Kasikornbank group, aims to invest in SMEs with potential that need capital for business expansion. The capital fund is overseen by its affiliate Khao Kla Venture Capital Management, which selects promising businesses for investment.
The company is investing Bt45 million in Tee Entertainment, which is equivalent to 33.83 per cent of its total shares in the company. Tee Entertainment is an event-organising business and marketing consultancy. The company is also expanding into neighbouring countries.
Somchai Cheewasutthanon, chief executive officer of Tee Entertainment, said yesterday that this year his company had formed a 70:30 joint venture with Yangon-based Shwe Than Media. The JV named Tee Entertainment Inter-national Myanmar is to produce TV programmes for SkyNet, organise events and sell sponsorship packages for the English Premier League’s current soccer season.
Shwe Than Media is the operator of a nationwide radio station, three free-to-air channels – Myanmar National TV, Myanmar Inter-national TV and Channel 9 – and SkyNet, a subscriber-based satellite TV service.
Somchai said his company needed more capital for new TV production, which has increased from two shows to four. The company also needs more cash flow to diversify into the fast-moving-goods business next year. In the first phase, it requires about Bt80 million for production and marketing.
Pipavat Bhadranavik, first senior vice president of KBank, said the other deal signed by K-SME Venture Capital, valued at Bt4 million, was with Zinco Living Co, a holistic garden designer and supplier. The company is also turning its focus to distributing footwear from the US.
Pipavat said the proper period of each investment should be three to five years. After that, the SMEs have to buy the shares back.
However, K-SME Venture Capital is submitting a proposal to the Bank of Thailand to discuss the relaxation of the period of investment by venture-capital firms from seven years to 10, to provide further assistance to some SMEs. Some of these companies need more time to buy their shares back.
Patamaporn Chiyakool, managing director of Khao Kla Venture Capital Management, said her company had arranged a total of Bt430 million in investment in more than a dozen SMEs. Some of those businesses had bought their shares back while the rest were still supported by Khao Kla.
