Curtains down for box-office king GTH
MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS of GTH, the most successful Thai film-maker with one of the highest-ever combined box office returns, have decided to split due to differences over a stock market listing plan.
GTH, the acronym for GMM Tai Hub, is 51-per-cent owned by music and entertainment conglomerate GMM Grammy, while Tai Entertainment has a 30-per-cent stake and Hub Ho Hin Bangkok, a 19-per-cent stake.
The break-up, effective on December 31, follows Tai Entertainment’s push for GTH to seek listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. However, Hub Ho Hin does not want to rush to have the company publicly listed.
“This is a friendly separation. Actually, there is no conflict among stakeholders, but from my point of view, we should not rush to be listed on the bourse as the timing does not seem to be right yet,” GTH co-chief executive officer Jina Osothsilp told the press yesterday.
Speaking from the perspective of Hub Ho Hin, Jina admitted that her creative team consisting of veteran film producer Jira Maligool and Yongyoot Thongkongtoon would prefer to focus on producing quality films and TV programmes without having to deal with excessive pressure from investors on the stock market.
She believed that if the company were to be listed, there would be heavy pressure from new investors.
Jina’s opinion appears to run counter to the perspective of fellow shareholder Tai Entertainment, led by Visute Poolvoralaks. Visute, who is also co-chief executive of the company, said he wanted to get GTH listed on the stock exchange, but did not elaborate.
After the corporate break-up, Jina and Visute will run their film-making businesses separately to meet the fast-growing demand for quality films. Both are set to announce their new companies next month.
Asked about the plan for next year, Jira Maligool, head producer of GTH, said that under the new company’s operation, he expects to produce at least two Thai movies.
Until the official separation on December 31, GTH would continue to back GMM Grammy’s digital TV channel via the projects titled: “Diary of Tootsies” and “Gasohug Rak Tem Tank”.
However, Jina stressed that all staff would get compensation in accordance with the labour law plus this year’s bonus. Revenue this year is expected to hit Bt300 million.
Meanwhile, Busaba Daoruang, chief executive officer at GMM Grammy, said that the company would continue to support both parties as business partners in the future.
Launched in May 2004, GTH has become a widely popular indigenous film-maker with titles such as “Pee Mak Phra Khanong (Pee Mak)”, the country’s highest grossing movie with Bt1 billion in revenue.
