Kasikorn Investure Co Ltd (KInvesture), a subsidiary of Kasikornbank (KBank), has invested in J Asset Management Company (JAM) and holds 9.9% of the company's shares, worth more than 3.5 billion baht, in a move to support JAM's future growth, KBank said yesterday.
JAM is a subsidiary of JMT Network Services Plc (JMT).
KBank teamed up with JAM last year to set up JK Asset Management Company (JK AMC), the first joint venture between a commercial bank and an asset management company under the Bank of Thailand's policy to address the problem of soaring non-performing loans (NPLs), which was triggered by the pandemic.
According to KBank president Patchara Samalapa, the bank sees potential in JAM based on its cooperation with JK AMC, including JAM's in-house technologies and personnel with operational expertise arising from their extensive business experience.
The bank's decision to invest in JAM stems from JAM's promising business growth, he said.
Piya Pong-acha, executive director at JMT, said as the Thai economy has yet to fully recover following the pandemic and there are uncertainties in the global economy, the amount of NPLs continues to rise unabated.
This situation provides JAM and JK AMC opportunities to invest in the purchase of distressed assets from other financial institutions to manage, he said.
Mr Piya said the main goals of the two companies are to bring debtors into the financial system by serving as a financial advisor for those who can make efficient debt repayments, as well as using data analytics to propose debt repayment conditions.
Sutthirak Trichira-aporn, chief executive of JMT, said JAM, in collaboration with KInvesture, has operated an NPL management business, buying secured and unsecured NPLs under JK AMC, since June 2022.
The company started achieving its business target in the third quarter of 2022, he said. JMT aims to be No.1 in the non-performing asset management business by 2025, said Mr Sutthirak.