Amata Corporation Plc, Thailand's leading industrial-estate developer, revised up its 2007 land sales target to between 1,500 and 1,700 rai from 1,200 rai after it sold a large portion of its industrial land to a Chinese company.
Viboon Kromadit, the company's senior vice-president for sales and marketing, said the sale of 600 rai of land in Amata City Industrial Estate to Holley Industrial (Thailand) would be booked in the fourth quarter of this year. Holley, an industrial-estate developer, has its parent firm based in China.
Earlier this year, the Chinese company delayed its deal with Amata following the New Year's Eve bombings that rocked Bangkok.
The land finally purchased by Holley was worth almost one billion baht. ''This deal made us lift our land sales target, which was forecast at around 5-5.5 billion baht, to between 5.5 billion and six billion baht this year,'' Mr Viboon said.
After the sale of industrial land to Holley, Amata will form a joint venture with its Chinese partner next year. Both sides are considering developing an industrial estate next to Amata City in Rayong.
Amata is studying the best solution for the company to co-invest with Holley. It would decide whether to use itself or its subsidiary, Amata City, to form the joint venture.
The planned industrial estate, mainly targeting Chinese investors, would also include factories for rent for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, a commercial and residential zone and an international school to serve the Chinese community.
Mr Viboon said Holley would help bring Chinese investors to buy land and set up their production plants in Thailand.
The Chinese market is seen as highly lucrative due to the high spending power of its industrialists and government incentives to foreign investors, he said.
Mr Viboon also said a property fund was in the process finding a fund manager for the first quarter of next year.
The property fund would raise about one billion baht to acquire 30 ready-to-use factories from Amata Summit Ready Built Co in Chon Buri.
Amata's land sales represent 72% of total revenues with the rest from services. The proportion would be 50:50 by 2010.
Amata shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 16.30 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 54.7 million baht.
Source: Bangkok Post by Krissana Parnsoonthorn
Tuesday October 30, 2007