Thanachai Unsmatkosa, managing director of Sang Thong Service Centre, the owner of the franchise, said last week that Power Clinic had started operations six months ago. The company has already signed contracts to sell the franchise to 21 enterprises, and is confident it can raise the number to 40 in the next year.

"Demand for mobile-phone repair centres now has strong growth, and as a result we believe our revenue will meet with the target of Bt20 million in the next year," he said.

The company has generated revenue of Bt2 million this year.

M&A book and seminar

The Stock Exchange of Thailand will on Wednesday launch a book titled "Mergers and Acquisitions: Opportunity for Thai Businesses", written by a team led by Baker & McKenzie's Kitipong Urapeepatanapong, a leading expert on Thai M&A law.

A seminar on "Mergers and Acquisitions and Opportunity for Business Growth Prospects" will be held from 8.30am to noon the same day. Speakers include Dr Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, Vicha Poovoralak and Kitipong Urapeepatanapong.

The book, published in Thai, addresses issues such as the various forms of M&A, legal and tax questions, M&A activity in financial institutions, telecommunication businesses and family businesses, the roles and duties of directors of listed companies involved in M&A, and preventive measure for hostile takeovers.

There are also eight case studies - including GMM Media and Matichon, Ucom and Telenor, and Temasek and Shin Corp - with legal and tax analysis.

High scores for GMM

GMM Grammy and GMM Media have been rated 'very good' in the Corporate Governance Report of Thai Listed Companies 2006, compiled by the Thai Institute of Directors (IOD), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Scores were given to 402 listed companies in the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment, with the evaluations based on criteria such as good information disclosure and transparency, shareholder rights, fair treatment of shareholders, the roles of stakeholders, and the responsibilities of boards.

Busaba Daorueng, GMM Grammy CEO, said last week that the board had committed itself to good corporate governance in the company's management and operation. "The evaluation made by the IOD, SEC and SET will help build up credibility and the image of GMM Grammy in the eyes of investors and the general public," she said.

Mass-transit hearing

The Transport Ministry will today hold a public hearing on the government's mass-transit development plans. It will take place at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.

To show its commitment to continuing with the long-awaited mass-transit development, the Finance Ministry has submitted a borrowing proposal to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The ministry estimates that five proposed subway routes would require an investment of about Bt160 billion, 60 per cent of which is expected to be in foreign currency loans.

Interest charged by the JBIC is 1.5-2 percentage points lower than market rates and the borrowing period could be as long as 30-40 years.