GMM Grammy selling 50 per cent holding in Index Creative
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THE CO-CEO of Index Creative Village says he might buy up the remaining half of its shares if a partnership deal fails after GMM Grammy divests its stake.
“Our talks with our preferred partner are on the right track, and the deal could be approved by our potential partner by end of this month,” Kriangkrai Kanjanapokin, co-chief executive officer of event organiser Index Creative Village, said yesterday.
He described the new partner as the “right one” because it shared the same vision and strategy for business sustainability.
“I have been preparing for this deal since last year after receiving a signal of a probable exit from GMM Grammy’s top executive,” he said.
At that time, GMM Grammy proposed to sell its shares in Index Creative Village values at about Bt1 billion.
Kriangkrai declined to disclose the name of the new partner, but SET-listed Wave Entertainment was reportedly among the companies eyeing a partnership. Wave Entertainment could not be reached for comment.
If the deal is sealed, the new partner would take over the 50-per-cent stake currently held by GMM Grammy’s GMM Media.
If the deal is finalised, Index Creative Village will continue to invest both domestically and overseas, particularly in Myanmar, Kriangkrai said. Apart from event business, the company wants to create a strong presence in hospitality and cultural-related businesses in that country.
However, if the partnership deal falls through, Kriangkrai himself could take over GMM Grammy’s stake and forge ahead with the expansion plan.
Though the event business in the past couple of years has suffered from the country’s political and economic problems, Index Creative Village has managed to grow in terms of profit and revenue.
However, GMM Grammy is now focusing more on its core busi
nesses including music and TV, particularly its two digital television channels, One and GMM 25. So the company decided to exit from other businesses, selling its shares in SE-Education, Post Publishing and Matichon.
Recently, GMM Grammy decided to sell its magazine business to Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia.
