The combined-cycle power plant in Myanmar should give SGP higher income and return on investment, which should add value to the company, it said in a report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

According to its filing yesterday to the SET, the acquisition will be made via Siam Gas Power (SPW), its wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore.

The Myanmar power plant is operated by MSN International, Asiatech Energy and Myanmar Lighting (IPP) Co, so the transaction will be divided into two steps.

SPW will purchase 30 per cent of MSN and Asiatech for $24 million. This step is expected to close this month.

Then SPW will purchase 30 per cent of Myanmar Lighting (IPP) for $24 million.

SGP will pay the remaining amount to the seller when SPW is granted permission from authorities in Myanmar to hold shares in Myanmar Lighting (IPP) directly. The transaction is expected to close by November.

The deal will be financed by working capital and loans from financial institutions.

SGP’s board of directors approved the transaction, given the opinion that the investment in the power-plant business will give the company a stable income and diversify its revenue sources.

TV Direct will be used as Tri-Stage’s springboard in expanding the business in potential markets in Asean, especially in the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam) area.

The acquisition will allow Tri-Stage to become the largest single shareholder in the Thai company, giving it a seat on TV Direct’s board.

There is, however, no significant change in the top executive and management structure at TV Direct as a result of the deal.

Yutaro Suzuki, director and senior executive of Tri-Stage, said his company provided a direct-marketing solution to 130 clients, selling about 500 products in total.

The firm generated revenue of ฅ37.13 billion (Bt12.21 billion) last year, some 15.4 per cent higher than the 2014 level.

The partnership between TV Direct and Tri-Stage will also allow the Japanese partner the possibility of opening a Nippon Department Store in Bangkok.

Tri-Stage operates two Nippon Department Store outlets in Japan, retailing specialty and notable local products and sundry items from the various regions of the country.

“We have acquired a 15-per-cent stake in TV Direct as we have seen the strong growth potential of home-shopping business in Thailand. TV Direct has been successful in developing home-shopping business here [Thailand] and we would like to rely on their skill to explore business opportunity in other Asean countries,” Suzuki said.

“We are negotiating with TV Direct about the business principle in expanding the home-shopping business in other potential markets in Asean,” he added.

Tri-Stage already has a business in Indonesia after purchasing a stake in a local distribution firm that supplies products to a home-shopping network.

Tri-Stage operates largely in two business areas, with the direct-marketing support segment engaged in the provision of media advertisement space; the customised development of products; the planning and production of TV and other programmes; and the provision of know-how about order receipt and logistics.

The direct-mail agency sending segment is engaged in the agency dispatch of direct mails and products, and other businesses. Through a subsidiary, it also operates a retail business selling specialty products and miscellaneous goods.

Songpol Shanmatkit, chief executive of TV Direct, said that under the acquisition, Tri-Stage had acquired 97.5 million shares at Bt3.50 apiece.

“Under the partnership, we – TV Direct and Tri-Stage – will share direct-marketing know-how and experiences in developing the market together,” he said.

Songpol identified the key mutual benefits driven by the strategic partnership as the transfer of direct-marketing and direct-response TV know-how, which will lead to increased sales and cost reduction; business process outsourcing, which will allow TV Direct to duplicate the business model in bringing Japanese products and services to Thailand; sharing business information, best-selling products, and selling methods; using Tri-Stage’s retail network, such as Nippon Department Store, in distributing Thai products into the Japanese market, and Japanese products into Thailand; and strengthened financial support.

“Within the next six months, we will see the immediate benefit of the partnership, including in the area of media management and media utilisation. The company expects its overall expenditures to be slashed by between 5 and 10 per cent over the period,” the CEO said.

He added that product exchange and creation between the partners would be seen within the next 12 months, while mutual cooperation, such as in database marketing, would be achieved in the longer term.

“The home-shopping market in Thailand was worth Bt8 billion last year, and is expected to reach Bt10 billion this year. The market is expected to enjoy further growth for the next five years,” Songpol said.

TV Direct leads the local TV shopping market with a share of 40-50 per cent, he said. Other active players are TVD Shopping, O Shopping, True Select, Shop Channel, Hi Shopping, 1577, 1575 and Denso Direct.

TV Direct expects to achieve Bt3.2 billion in sales this year, against Bt3 billion last year.

Its annual growth-rate target is normally 15 per cent, but with the partnership with Tri-Stage, growth should rise to 20-25 per cent from 2018 onwards, the chief executive said.

“We have about 1,500 SKUs [stockholding units] in our portfolio, of which 40 per cent are Thai products. With the partnership with Tri-Stage, between 50 and 100 new SKUs will be added, of which between 50 and 60 per cent will be from Japan, and the rest from China and South Korea,” he added.

“The resort has been designed with generously sized rooms that offer maximum privacy for different markets particularly couples, families and small to medium-sized groups,” Chatchawan Pankudrua, general manager of Aonang Ville Co, the owner and manager of the new property, said yesterday.

Featuring 72 guestrooms, 12 villas and a grand villa, it will be positioned as a luxury product catering to high-end markets. Reservations opened this month.

Aonang Ville Co also owns and operates the Aonang Villa Resort, one of the longest-established resorts at Krabi’s Ao Nang Beach.

Its first resort at Ao Nang opened almost 30 years ago and consistently enjoys the highest occupancy rates in Krabi.

The group is confident in the potential for The ShellSea.

The veteran Thai hotelier, who began operating in Phuket in 1986 and worked in Sydney and Fiji before returning to Thailand, said the property was located on an isolated beach linked directly with the famous shell fossil plate, one of Krabi’s prime attractions.

The resort’s Grand Villa comes with its own pool and a full 180-degree view of the sea from its beachfront setting.

There are also a Kids’ Club and a pool suitable for families with young children.

Other leisure activities will include jogging, yoga, pool games, kayaking and windsurfing.

Krabi’s tourism industry was hit hard by the tsunami in 2004, but the business has fully rebounded and has even grown rapidly for years.

The National Statistical Office showed that Krabi counted 499 registered hotels and resorts with 19,020 rooms last year. More than 5.5 million tourists, both locals and foreigners, visited the province and generated revenue of Bt78 billion.

Unlike other kids who would play shopkeeper, Siripa’s playground was real. She would take a two-hour bus ride every week to help her sisters sell shoes at the world’s biggest outdoor market, Chatuchak Market.

Growing up with a dream of becoming an entrepreneur, Siripa decided to major in accounting at Thammasat University with the belief that it would give her the skill set she needed.

Siripa started her career as an assistant auditor at Ernst & Young. At the age of 25, she moved to Dumex to become an accounting manager. She then attended Lund University in Sweden for a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and economic growth, innovation and spatial dynamics.

During her studies, Siripa started two small businesses: a store selling jewellery and clothes imported from Thailand and a wedding-gown wholesaler. She learned two great lessons from that experience.

First, there is a difference in buying behaviour between Swedes (who focus on quality) and Thais (who are price-sensitive).

The second lesson was the need to be efficient. As a business owner, it’s important to use your time wisely. Time is money. Don’t do everything yourself.

After completing her master’s, Siripa moved to Denmark to join Danisco, a Danish multinational company. The almost two years she spent there taught her a lot – not only about best practices of business processes on a global level, but the foundations of corporate management.

Siripa returned home with a pocketful of business ideas and a big opportunity she saw while in the West, e-commerce. She founded Allthaicoupon.com. In only three months, it became the biggest deal-aggregator website in Thailand.

In 2013, Siripa joined Zalora Thailand, one of Asia’s leading online fashion destinations, as a corporate director and vice president of finance. During her time there she was involved in the strategic business process and business controls. Equally important, Siripa was a key player in setting up Zalora’s strong finance, accounting, legal and import department.

After two years, Siripa thought it was time to start a new business. One of her ideas was e-groceries.

However, she knew that the e-grocery business needed a lot of support. To her surprise, HappyFresh came knocking on her door out of the blue; her answer was a big “yes”, and she jumped into the family without hesitation.

“I am a big fan of technology; it makes our lives easier,” she said. “HappyFresh allows people to get their groceries [delivered while] going out and spending time on what matters most. Go eat ice cream and walk in the park with your loved ones, and my HappyFresh team will deliver the groceries to your doorstep [for you to find] when you get back.”

As a home-grown middle-class Thai woman, Siripa is now standing strong among other managing directors in the e-commerce industry in Thailand. With her many years of experience, she has shared with us three success factors for business:

Failed? “Please Try Again.”

Pinpoint the right problems.

Be efficient.

Siripa said HappyFresh offered a personal grocery-shopping service that helps you get hand-picked groceries in one hour from supermarkets. HappyFresh offers more than 20,000 products on its platform and operates with 24 supermarket branches, mainly in Bangkok.

“At HappyFresh, we have three secrets to success: customer, customer and CUSTOMER! HappyFresh provides an instant solution for customers, next-hour grocery delivery. We focus on high-quality products and fast delivery.

“After more than 10 months, our customer satisfaction is very high, and I am glad that HappyFresh is making people’s lives easier. We have more and more regular customers every day and they love our personal shoppers who help them shop and call if there’s anything out of stock.

“There’s also a wide choice of replacement products. It’s just like you are remotely doing your own shopping.”

HappyFresh has begun a mission to change the face of traditional grocery shopping. E-groceries is the last frontier of e-commerce and is considered a tough business, as it needs to convert consumer behaviour. However, Siripa strongly believes that Thailand will be there.

He declined to provide more details.

But according to a CAT executive source, the joint venture, Tree Pay Co, will offer an e-payment gateway service to cash in on the growing amount of business being done online in Thailand.

SK Telecom will hold a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, the source said, adding that its CAT’s first joint venture with a foreign partner. The joint venture, which has registered capital of Bt200 million, is expected to be launched this quarter and generate revenue of around Bt1 billion within five years, the source said.

Tree Pay will mainly be targeted at corporate companies, government agencies and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The joint venture also aims to support the government’s policy to promote online businesses and its digital economy policy.

The total value of business generated online each year in Thailand is more than Bt10 billion and continues surging.

CAT and TOT are about to make a major transformation. Last week the State Enterprise Policy Office gave the agencies one year to complete the merger of three core businesses.

The SEPO ordered the transfer of their transmission and fibre-optics networks to become National Broadband Network Co with asset worth Bt15 billion and to turn their Internet gateway and submarine-cable networks into Neutral Gateway Network Co with assets worth Bt5 billion. Their Internet data centres will become IDC Co.

TOT and CAT are also expected to seek a partnership for their fixed broadband services.