The company is the utility and power arm of Thailand’s leading industrial estate developer WHA Corporation. WHAUP’s total revenue last year amounted to about Bt3.7 billion.

In the first half of this year, the company reported total revenue of Bt1.8 billion with Bt1 billion in net profit.

WHAUP chief executive officer Wisate Chungwatana said yesterday that the company’s business plans for the second half of this year would continue as planned to ensure growth.

Its natural gas distribution project is expected to start deliveries to customers at WHA Eastern Seaboard 2 in the fourth quarter of this year, while the development of a similar project in WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 4 is expected to commence commercial operation next year .

WHAUP recently announced the establishment of a subsidiary to invest and operate water supply business at WHA Industrial Zone in Nghe An province, Vietnam. The project is expected to start operation in 2019. The company also has a solar rooftop power-generating business, installing rooftop system for industrial customers as well as providing electricity from this system to their factories.

The company expects to install a further 2.6 megawatts in solar rooftop power for its industrial customers in the third quarter this year, up from around 5 megawatts currently.

The company is in talks with more factories in WHA industrial zones and those in other industrial estate zones for more customers. It expects to sign deals for an additional 10 MWs this year.

Recently, WHAUP signed a contract with Electrolux Thailand to install and operate a 0.50MW solar-rooftop system at one of its factories in Rayong.

WHAUP provides fully-integrated utilities services for industries in Thailand, such as the supplies of raw water, processed water, clarified water, and wastewater treatment. It also invests in power business both in Thailand and overseas.

Toemchai Bunnag, GPSC chief executive officer and president, said this planned synergy with Glow aims to boost power efficiency and stability for investors in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate and Eastern Economic Corridor as well as reduce operating expenses.

As for concerns voiced by some Glow customers, he said the GPSC will tell them that its acquisition of shares will have no impact and that all the conditions, price and service contracts will remain the same.

The power business is based on long-term contracts with agreed prices and the amount of purchase and sale. On average, Glow customers’ contracts are for more than 10 years.

In response to concerns that GPSC’s acquisition of Glow shares will lead to PTT Group’s monopoly in the Map Ta Phut area, Toemchai said, “GPSC is a private company listed on the stock exchange with stringent regulations. GPSC operates its business independently. Selling power and steam to companies of PTT Group is under the same conditions and standards for non-PTT Group customers.”

An unidentified source from the ERC said the Commerce Ministry has handed in its inspection result, showing that GPSC’s planned acquisition of Glow shares does not go against the trade competition law. The source said the ERC needs to consider the matter of competition promotion and reduction of monopoly, and should come up with an answer by the end of this month.

“If the result of GPSC’s planned acquisition of Glow shares goes against the law, the ERC will not transfer the licence for operation to GPSC. The ERC has to consider the laws thoroughly to be fair to all parties,” the source said.

According to normal procedures, after the share acquisition is completed, GPSC is required to ask the ERC to transfer the licence for operating in the energy industry.

Meanwhile, Korn Chatikavanij, chairman of policy at the Democrat Party, will hand the ERC a letter today asking it to see if GPSC’s planned acquisition could possibly translate into market dominance.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that he has not seen Korn’s letter, adding that this was a matter of state enterprise with several related laws and there should not be any political meddling.

Under this rule, the NBTC granted temporary protection to the customers of others operators, and dtac has now asked the court to order the same protection for its customers, as enacted by the network migration law.

The listed company made four key points:

• dtac and dtac’s users have the legal right to be protected and allowed to enter into remedial measure after the concession has expired, to allow users to use mobile service continuously until the NBTC has allocated the spectrum in the expired concession to a new licensee.

• In the past, the NTBC has not allocated the spectrum that dtac is currently using – 850MHz – but the NBTC allocated the 900MHz spectrum with the condition that has been widely criticised regarding its appropriateness, which led to no bidder participating in the auction.

• There was no 850MHz auction, and the 900MHz auction did not lead to a new licensee to build a network that supports 850MHz users.

Therefore, the users have the right to be protected to allow them to use mobile services continuously, according to the network migration law, for the period of no more than one year, or until a new licensee has been awarded the 850MHz spectrum.

• Other operators had been protected by such a law in the past when those operators’ concessions expired without new licensees for the expired concessions.

Raweepun Pitakchatiwong, head of the General Counsel Division at Total Access Communication, said on Tuesday: “dtac would like to make it clear that the same law must apply to everybody equally. Anyone who fails to comply with the law, discriminates against dtac’s users or facilitates certain parties, must be responsible for their actions. And, dtac will take all necessary legal actions to protect its customers.”

DTC made the acquisition through its wholly-owned Hong Kong-incorporated subsidiary, Dusit Overseas Co Ltd, which has bought all shares in LVM Holdings Pte Ltd. (LVMH), a Singapore-incorporated company and the ultimate holding company of Elite Havens.

Established in 1998, LVMH directly and indirectly holds shares in nine companies in Southeast Asian countries. The largest company of its kind in Asia, it performs integrated marketing, reservations, concierge and management services for luxury villas and currently maintains a network of more than 200 fully staffed properties across Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

DTC’s acquisition of Elite Havens follows the company’s three-pronged strategy for sustainable and profitable growth, which includes balance, diversification, and expansion, particularly into new market segments, which will enhance DTC’s capacity to provide integrated services and drive revenue growth.

“Our investment in Elite Havens marks another important milestone in our strategic journey, particularly our two-pronged plan for expansion, which includes doubling our number of hotels in operation, and providing broadened experiences for our customers.” said Suphajee Suthumpun, Group CEO, DTC.

“Our current brand line up covers the midscale through to luxury hotel segments. Now, with the addition of Elite Havens, we are delighted to cover the luxury villa rental segment too.

“While the integrated luxury villa management business is new to us, Elite Havens has an impressive track record in this segment, successfully expanding from a small enterprise to the leading company of its kind in Asia.

And we are confident that our 70 years of experience in operating upper-upscale and luxury hotels will only enhance these operations further, allowing the dynamic Elite Havens team to leverage our own capabilities to continue providing exceptional services for luxury consumers, while simultaneously expanding the brand’s reach in more dream destinations throughout Asia and other key regions,” she added.

Jon Stonham, CEO, Elite Havens, said that with its strong focus on people and exceeding expectations with our services, Elite Havens shares the same values as Dusit, so there is already a strong synergy for its to build on.

The company looks forward to a very bright future of sustainable and profitable growth as we expand our operations as part of the Dusit family.

Following its strategy for balance, diversification and expansion, DTC has been actively enhancing its operations with investments in new market segments.

The company made moves into the shared economy last year with an investment in Favstay, a Thai hospitality startup offering condos and villas for rent in Thailand’s top destinations, and in April this year DTC announced it would also enter the affordable lifestyle segment with the launch of ASAI Hotels.

A distinctive new brand designed to link curious, millennial-minded travellers with authentic local experiences in vibrant cities and resort destinations worldwide, ASAI Hotels now has five properties in the pipeline across Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines.