King Power snaps up 9% stake in RS

RS chief operating officer Pornpan Techarungchaikul said King Power Group had purchased a large lot totalling 94 million shares worth Bt940 million from members of the Chetchotisak family.
The transaction gave the group 9 per cent of RS’s stock.
Of the acquired shares, 79 million were held by RS chief executive officer Surachai Chetchotisak, and 15 million belonged to Chet Chetchotisak.
Pornpan added that after the acquisition, the Chetchotisak family remained a major shareholder of the company, while King Power Group would be a passive investor. There would therefore be no need to reshuffle the management, she stressed.
She reasoned that King Power Group had decided to become a part of the company because it had witnessed the high potential of RS’s media business after if won a digital-TV licence to run Channel 8.
After the first year of operations, Channel 8 had generated profits for the parent company and become the fourth-ranked player in the industry, after Channel 7, Channel 3 and Workpoint TV channel, said the chief operating officer.
Moreover, RS also operates top-rated satellite-based TV channels, including Channel 2, Sabaidee TV, You Channel and Pleon TV.
Pornpan said her company was also committed to investing more in content production.
For the second half of the year, RS has earmarked about Bt300 million to Bt400 million for new content both for in-house production and co-production with such powerhouses as JSL Global Media, Kantana Group and Happy Together.
Last year, RS generated revenue of Bt4.3 billion, a rise of 24 per cent from 2013, with Channel 8 being its key growth engine. .