King Wai Group, a large Chinese developer, is set to invest both in new development and acquisitions in the Thai property sector after acquiring Keppel Thai Properties Plc (KTP), a SET-listed developer, last month.
Chairman Chan King Wai said the group would focus on property projects related to tourism, shopping and health care, mainly targeting Chinese customers on holiday in Thailand.
"We studied opportunities in Thailand in 2013 and predicted a boom in the Thai property sector," said Mr Chan yesterday during a visit to Bangkok to attend the KTP shareholders' meeting. At the meeting he asked shareholders to approve a name change to King Wai Group (Thailand) Plc.
"We will focus on Chinese buyers because Thai property prices are lower than in China," said Mr Chan. "Just as many Chinese relocated to Hainan to escape the cold weather, we want to attract Chinese to buy Thai property."
King Wai Group has businesses in property development, financial services, insurance, technology, cross border e-commerce and supply chain, with investments in China, Hong Kong and Asean.
Last month it spent 300 million baht to buy 100 million shares of KTP, a 45.45% stake, from major shareholders Keppel Land Ltd and Keppel Land Financial Services Pte Ltd, which are based in Singapore.
With registered capital of 2.2 billion baht, KTP has kept a low profile since the 2006 coup. It had total assets of 1.71 billion baht and total liabilities of 1.69 billion as of March.
KTP has housing inventory of 1.28 billion baht with remaining single houses for sales at two large projects: Villa Arcadia Srinakarin and Villa Arcadia Watcharapol. It also owns Jewelry Trade Centre, a 34-storey office building covering 42,834 square metres in Silom.
KTP has reported net losses for many years in a row, with a net loss of 140 million baht in 2013, 56 million in 2014, and 67 million in 2015. In the first quarter it posted a net loss of 29 million baht, down from a 5.89 million loss year-on-year.
Despite the losses, Mr Chan said KTP was attractive as it was a listed firm and its former major shareholders were also listed on the Singaporean bourse.
"We will build a Thai team before investing in new development and mergers and acquisitions next year," he said.