VGI reported the acquisition yesterday to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
According to VGI chief executive officer Surachet Bamrungsuk, the Rabbit business will help the company become a “data-centric media hypermarket”. VGI will use the data-analytics capabilities of Rabbit to aid in the creation of an innovative audience-targeted ad-media service.
Furthermore, this will broaden VGI’s reach to 25 million consumers per day and boost its annual revenue-production capacity from Bt3.9 billion to Bt7.3 billion, the company predicts.
Surachet said the company’s board of directors had approved the acquisition of 90 per cent of Bangkok Smartcard System Company (BSS) and 90 per cent of BSS Holdings Co. The investments will require total funding of Bt1.95 billion.
Through this acquisition, VGI will enter the e-payment business that provides the Rabbit Card for travel on the BTS Skytrain and for purchasing merchandise from retailers countrywide.
Additionally, VGI is acquiring an e-wallet business through Rabbit Line Pay, a function embedded in the Line application, which is the most popular instant-messaging platform in Thailand, with more than 33 million active users. This enables users to purchase merchandise from online and brick-and-mortar retail stores, with plans to extend the service to cover online payment for Skytrain fares and retail purchases within Rabbit Card’s merchants network nationwide.
The Rabbit business also comprises other services operated by Rabbit Internet, including Rabbit Daily, which provides lifestyle content through a Web portal, and Rabbit Finance, a licensed financial-products-comparison website previously known as ASK Hanuman.
Currently, VGI manages advertising media in BTS stations and trains, office buildings, residential buildings and airports. The recent acquisition of shares in MACO has allowed VGI to consolidate and expand its out-of-home media network.
Surachet said that although the company had spent nearly Bt3 billion on a series of acquisitions this year, the business was expected to continue expanding.