Arise backs AI and digital growth as True sticks to profits and progressive dividends

Senior executives from Arise Ventures Group (Arise) and True Corporation (True) set out their strategy to analysts at an event on Monday (January 26) at True Tower in Bangkok.

They said True will keep tight financial discipline while pursuing growth through AI and its digital ecosystem, with Arise serving as the main vehicle to scale up technology capabilities.

Suphachai Chearavanont, chairman and chief executive of Arise Ventures Group, said Arise’s core businesses will rest on three pillars: telecommunications; cloud and data centres; and fintech. The aim, he said, is to build a full digital ecosystem spanning infrastructure through to consumer-level services.

For True IDC and Ascend Money, joint ventures with existing shareholders will remain in place. In practice, however, Arise will play a driving role in developing these digital businesses alongside True. 

Arise will also support deeper investment in AI, cloud and data centres through specialised subsidiaries, to avoid placing a burden on True’s core telecoms business and to sharpen the value of synergies, he explained.

Sigve Brekke, chief executive of True Corporation and executive chairman for Arise Ventures Group’s tech-telco and digital businesses, insisted the deal would not alter True’s financial discipline.

He said the company’s target remains a “progressive dividend”, with a payout of no less than 50%, while reducing net debt to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) to 3.2 times by 2027.

The company, he added, does not need to accelerate new infrastructure investment, noting that consumer demand still largely sits on a 4G and 5G base, while 6G is not yet a CAPEX cycle that requires urgent, high-cost spending.

Suphachai also argued that AI and cloud will not force True to shoulder heavy investment burdens like those seen in earlier infrastructure eras. Large-scale investments such as GPUs and data centres will be undertaken by True IDC, while True will leverage its vast data and user base to create new revenue streams through revenue-sharing models with global partners.

The Arise chairman and chief executive said Arise’s long-term vision is to help True generate two to three times more value while paying steady dividends. 

True’s telecoms business, he said, will focus on digital transformation, application development, and data-driven value creation, without expanding investment into unrelated industries such as agriculture, property, or retail. Investments and synergies will be confined to a “digital–telecoms tech–fintech” base.

Both sides stressed that the synergy they seek is not about shifting assets or profits between companies, but about creating value where “1 plus 1 is greater than 2” by connecting telecommunications, digital money, data centres, and consumer applications, as well as using AI to enhance customer experience and improve organisational efficiency.

The deal will not bring changes to the management team. True will continue to uphold international governance standards following the merger, and has set out a structured, robust succession plan that does not depend on any single individual. 

Arise is also preparing to introduce stock options for executives to align long-term incentives with shareholders.

Overall, the new Arise–True strategy reflects a shift from infrastructure-heavy investment to technology investment that drives “services plus value-added”. True will maintain financial discipline, reduce debt, pay dividends, and use AI to transform its telecoms business into a digital platform.

The ultimate benefits of the deal, the executives said, lie in earnings growth, dividend capacity, and Thailand’s opportunity to expand within the region’s digital economy.

Suphachai said that, under Arise’s role—holding a complete set of assets across the digital ecosystem, including telecommunications, digital money, data centres and start-ups—the key goal is to push Arise to become a technology leader in Thailand, while helping strengthen the country’s digital potential on the regional stage.