Vikrom Kromadit, the chairman of Amata Corporation, plans to donate the bulk of his shareholdings to a charity in what would be one of the largest instances of personal philanthropy in Thailand.
As of May, Mr Vikrom controlled a 22.03% stake in the SET-listed industrial-estate developer with 235.01 million shares. At Friday's closing price of 13.90 baht per share, the stake is worth 3.27 billion baht.
Mr Vikrom said he planned to bestow most of his Amata shares, as well as other investments to the Amata Foundation on March 17, 2007.
The foundation will then become the largest single shareholder of Amata Corp, with full rights to all dividends.
''I have enough wealth and have achieved my dreams. I have decided to pass my private assets to my foundation,'' Mr Vikorm said.
''I'm 54 and I still have energy to work and plan to work until I die. I love to work and create new ideas and write, but from now on, any benefits will pass to the foundation,'' he said.
''I also don't want any rewards, and I don't want to be a politician, but I am grateful to help society without receiving anything in return.''
Mr Vikrom set up The Amata Foundation in 1996 with initial capital of 200,000 baht, with four key areas in focus: environmental conservation, education, arts and culture and health and sports activities.
''The Amata Foundation's philosophy is that humans are born with nothing and die with nothing. So while we breathe, we should offer benefits to society and create value for our country,'' he said.
He said he also planned to step down as Amata's chairman in the future, with professional executives to take charge of the company instead. But he will continue to work closely with the company, as well as pursue other investment opportunities.
''I have already prepared for the end of my life, and will go without concern about material possessions. All of my private assets will be transferred to the foundation, and the Amata shares are only the first lot. There will be more coming in the future,'' he said.
For Amata, Mr Vikrom said he expected the company to miss its revenue target for the year due to high oil prices, interest rates and a slowdown in industrial factory growth. The company reported nine-month profits of 579.15 million baht on revenues of 2.33 billion, compared with 2005 profits of 1.07 billion baht on revenues of 4.4 billion.
Factory sales account for 80% of Amata's revenues. Mr Vikrom said the company planned to diversify into infrastructure services offered within its industrial zones.
He added that he remained interested in dual-listing Amata Vietnam, a Vietnam-based affiliated company, on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the six-year-old Stock Trading Center of Vietnam, the country's main stock exchange.
Source: Bangkok Post 27 November 2006