Platinum preparing for first IPO

PHUKET: Platinum Group, a leading operator of malls including Platinum Fashion Mall, is preparing to launch an initial public offering at the end of this year or beginning of next year. Maybank Kim Eng Securities, the financial adviser, is in the process of filing the IPO plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The group has 2.8 billion baht of registered capital, 2.1bn of which is paid up.

The group hopes to mobilize 5bn-6bn baht from the IPO to finance its projects, including The Market by Platinum on land near Bangkok Bazaar on Ratchadamri Road that was leased for 30 years from the Crown Property Bureau.

The first phase will consist of a 70,000-square-meter retail plaza, offices for rent and a 400-room hotel. The whole project will cost 8bn-10bn baht. Construction will start by year-end.

President Somboon Wongrassamee said last week that the group is branching out upcountry with its first community mall named Wharf to be opened in Koh Samui by year-end.

It will occupy a 10-rai site in Bo Phut and offer 3,000-4,000sqm of retail space.

The mall will cost some 300 million baht and can accommodate about 135 tenants.

The group is also developing two hotels – a five-star villa hotel and a four-star, 100-room hotel – on another 10-rai site near the community mall at a cost of more than 600mn baht.

“We are signing a contract with a well-known hotel chain to manage our properties in Samui. The construction of both hotels will start by the end of this year,” he said.

“Samui is an area with strong growth. The market has plenty of room for growth compared to Phuket and Hua Hin,” he said.

The area has no community mall. Central Pattana Plc has opened Central Festival on a 37-rai site on Chaweng Beach. The mall is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the island.

“Our Wharf community mall will offer a great shopping experience in Samui,” he said.

The group expects its community mall to be another place for customers to hang around. It offers a wide range of products and services to respond to all customer needs.

The group also owns the four-star Novotel Bangkok Platinum Pratunam hotel near Pratunam Intersection. In the first half of this year, the hotel averaged occupancy of 55 per cent. However, the situation is expected to improve greatly by the second half of this year as foreign tourists have returned in large numbers.

The group expects to achieve about 2bn baht in revenue this year, which is on par with last year.

— The Nation