Top Thai music firm eyes IPO following Tencent investment
GMM Music is planning an initial public offering as early as this year, following a recent equity investment from China’s Tencent Holdings.
Thailand’s largest music company, a unit of GMM Grammy, would like an IPO “as soon as possible” this year or in 2025, Chief Marketing Officer Fahmai Damrongchaitham said in an interview.
GMM Music boosted its valuation to about US$700 million after selling a 10 per cent stake to China’s Tencent Holdings last month.
GMM Grammy, one of Thailand’s largest media groups, announced last year it plans to offer as much as a 30 per cent stake in the music unit to both repay debt and fund the expansion of its business.
The “strategic investment with Tencent is actually a very important milestone,” Fahmai said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We are aiming for as soon as possible depending on the market sentiment.”
Initial share sales in Thailand this year have raised about US$457 million, a 13 per cent drop from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fahmai declined to indicate the size of the planned IPO.
GMM Music’s first-quarter revenue rose 11 per cent from a year earlier to 978 million baht (S$36.4 million), accounting for about 70 per cent of its parent’s total income, according to a GMM Grammy statement. GMM Grammy’s other main businesses include home shopping, movies and television.
GMM Music also plans to expand its music business in other Asian markets through partnerships with companies including Tencent and YG Entertainment, Fahmai said. BLOOMBERG
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