JMART in talk to acquire another retailer this year

After its recent acquisition of a minority stake in the home-appliances distributor SINGER (Thailand) PCL, Thailand’s mobile phone retailer JayMart PCL (JMART) is in negotiations to acquire one another retailer this year, and the company is working towards its goal of becoming the country’s retail leader, an executive with the firm said.

“We would like to be the ‘King of Retail’ in Thailand. After we have invested in SINGER, our client base and distribution channel has more than doubled and our revenue should grow by 10 per cent this year. But that is not enough. We are in talk to acquire one more listed retail on Thai bourse, which should be finalised within this year,” said JMART’s chief executive Adisak Sukumwittaya.

Last week Singer (Thailand) B.V. has sold out its entire stake in SINGER, of which 24.99 per cent was sold to JMART and the remaining 15 per cent to a group of investors including Thai NVDR Co, Saha Pathana Inter-Holding and Lombard Investments.

JMART projects to have sales of 10 billion baht this year, excluding the revenue from SINGER. In the second half, it will place JMART’s products in 50 branches of SINGER nationwide, which is expected to generate the revenue of around 1 billion baht in 2016.

“The investment in SINGER will have no significant impact on our revenue in 2015. We will start to see the synergy between JMART and SINGER from next year onward and we expect to reach breakeven for this acquisition within two or three years,” the chief executive added.

The source of funds for buying stake in SINGER will be from its cash and financing. However, it may need to increase its capital to undertake the new deal.