Mono Technology Plc, an entertainment content creator, expects to spend more than 1 billion baht over three years to finance its plan to access digital TV and expand its business to Asean markets.
It yesterday announced its plan to raise funds and list on the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) by June.
Assistant chairman Navamin Prasophat said Mono plans to raise its paid-up capital from 115.50 million to 140 million baht baht by issuing 245 million shares at a par value of 0.10 baht.
The soon-to-be-issued shares will represent 17.5% of the company's total shares.
The Bodharamik family, Mono's largest shareholder, will see its shareholding dilute to 71.9% after the initial public offering (IPO) due at the end of May.
The company has appointed Kasikorn Securities and Bualuang Securities as lead underwriters for the IPO.
Media business and data provision, especially content for smartphones, the internet, printing and TV production, contribute 80-90% of Mono's income, with the rest coming from entertainment business such as music and films.
Mono is the owner of Gossip Star, a well-known film magazine, and the M-Thai website.
Mr Navamin said Mono has delivered net profit growth of more than 20% over the past three years. He expects it will maintain such growth in line with the rising number of content users following the roll-out of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone service on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.
Advanced Info Service and Total Access Communication (DTAC) plan to launch commercial 3G services on May 8 and 9 respectively.
Mono reported 2012 revenue of 1.56 billion baht, up 18.3% from the previous year, and net profit of 607.3 million baht, up 21.6%.
Its core business of media and data contributed 1.45 billion baht in revenue, while entertainment services provided 77.9 million baht.
Nisaporn Rerkaram, managing director of Advisory Plus, Mono's financial adviser, said Mono and a partner plan to bid for a digital TV licence with an estimated investment of 1 billion baht.
"Mono will be the top net profit margin maker on the MAI and it is expected to catch investors' eyes as 3G is a trendy investment now," Ms Nisaporn said.