AAPICO Hitech PCL, a Thai-Malaysian invested company, sealed a private placement of Baht 1,457,607,600 (equivalent to approximately US$ 35 million) to Japanese-based Sojitz Corporation today at a press conference, presided over by Mr. Kittirat Na Ranong, President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Subject to a final approval at the Extra Ordinary General Meeting on August 18, 2005 , AAPICO’s private placement represents 15% of enlarged share capital to Sojitz Corporation, whose overall turnover last year exceeded US$44 billion; US$ 6 billion of which was related to the automotive industry. After the private placement, SC Yeap Group will retain 34% equity and Sojitz Corporation will hold 15% of AAPICO Hitech Plc. The balance will be in the hands of public and institutional investors.
“In heeding the government’s call that Thai autopart companies need to form global alliances to promote its ‘Detroit of Asia’ policy, we decided to go out and look for a synergistic partner that could bring value to our company. After a 12-month search and evaluation of several alternatives, we finally decided that Sojitz Corporation Japan would be our most ideal partner’, commented Mr. S. C. Yeap, President & CEO of AAPICO Hitech Plc.
As a result of this valuable and strategic partnership, AAPICO will be better equipped to fulfill its four-prong strategy – to broaden product offerings in current regional markets, to penetrate further into regional markets such as India, Malaysia and China, to reduce cost through streamlined manufacturing, central purchase and logistics integration, and to achieve operational and management excellence supported by IT and ERP implementation.
The new capital injection will, therefore, be used for the expansion of AAPICO’s existing facilities in Thailand and China to increase production capacity for organic growth as well as for merger and acquisition projects in the regional markets, including China and India .
This is an official press release by AAPICO. For more details do contact Mr. Joe Goh , Business Development Director, tel. 035 350880 ext. 103 fax 035 350881 or e-mail : Joegoh@aapico.com
