Thailand’s listed electronics and debt collection company Jay Mart has bought a 25 per cent stake in Singer Thailand.
Retail Holdings NV (Thailand) BV on Monday revealed it had sold its 40 per cent stake in Singer Thailand to a group of investors for US$44.8 million. The Bangkok Post subsequently reported the majority of that investment, equal to 24.9 per cent of the business, was acquired by Jay Mart and that the investment marks the company’s first step towards becoming “a fully fledged nanofinance service provider” giving it access to Singer’s high interest loan business.
Retail Holdings said its subsidiary Singer Thailand will continue to have a royalty bearing license from the company to use the Singer brand.
Jay Mart CEO Adisak Sukhumwittaya said the acquisition will help his company expand all of its existing businesses rapidly, especially nanofinance and debt collection, through Singer’s distribution channels nationwide.
Singer has 200 distribution outlets in Thailand, which will be merged with 250 Jay Mart distribution channels.
Singer Thailand had revenue of approximately $105.6 million and attributable net income of approximately $1.9 million for the year ended December 2014. Besides its home appliance business, Singer operates mobile phone recharging stations and petrol vending machines in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Retail Holdings retains its remaining operations, the most significant a 54.1 per cent equity interest in Sewko/Singer Asia, a distributor of consumer durable products in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with consumer credit and other financial services; and the powerful Singer trademark.
