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Published on September 26, 2007

 Telecom holding firm Samart Corp will establish a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong to oversee the group's infrastructure investment business in Indochina.

Samart president Watchai Vilailuck said yesterday that the subsidiary, which will be capitalised at US$20 million (Bt684 million), would seek partners or list shares either on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) or any foreign equity market whenever it needs funds for developing its infrastructure business in the region.

He said the Hong Kong subsidiary could be named Samart International.

The move is also in line with the group's policy that subsidiaries have to seek funds on their own for new investment, he added.

Samart told the SET yesterday that its board had approved the establishment of the Hong Kong holding company as part of its restructuring of overseas investments.

The board also gave approval to Samart to transfer the entire investment in its wholly owned subsidiary Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS) - 250,000 shares, equivalent to 100 per cent of CATS' paid-up capital - to the new subsidiary at $48 per share, totalling $12 million.

Moreover, the board gave approval to CATS to transfer the entire investment in its wholly owned Kampot Power Plant to the new company at $10 per share, totalling $5 million.

Samart group businesses range from the handset distributor Samart i-Mobile, which sells in both domestic and regional markets, to CATS and Kampot Power.

Samart has targeted Cambodia as its second investment home. The Vilailuck family also operates a museum in Siam Reap.

In December 2005, Samart pulled out of Cambodia's highly competitive cellular market by selling its 49-per-cent stake in Cambodia Samart Communication to the latter's strategic partner, TM International. This was in order to focus on other prospective arenas in Cambodia, including the energy sector. Samart's share price closed at Bt7.85 yesterday, up from Bt7.80 on Monday.

The group posted consolidated first-half revenues of Bt10.76 billion, down from Bt17.576 billion in the same period last year. The drop was attributed in part to a slowdown in state agencies' spending on new projects.

 Telecom Reporters

 The Nation