Thai quadruple-play operator True Corp aims to attract a foreign partner to take a 25% share in the company via a new equity issue in the second half of this year, to support a plan to expand internationally in south-east Asia, according to CEO Suphachai Chearavanont, quoted by Reuters. Suphachai said True aimed to have 100 million subscribers in the region in five years, and expects to conclude its first local telecoms partnership deal with Myanmar’s Yatanarpon Teleport (YPT) ‘within two months’, having entered talks with the state-backed internet provider regarding a potential mobile service joint venture in Myanmar.
For its domestic operations, True has budgeted investment of THB26.5 billion (USD820 million) this year, including THB15.5 billion in mobile, THB10 billion in broadband and THB1 billion in cable TV, and targets revenue growth of 7%-9%. Chief finance officer Noppadol Dej-Udom added that True is considering selling more of its network assets to the USD1.8 billion infrastructure fund it listed in December 2013 to pay down some of the group’s remaining USD2.32 billion debts.