SNC Former has reached an agreement with its Japanese partner Sugimoto Metal Manufacturing and Masayasu Masuda to build a production facility in Bangkok for auto and electrical-appliance parts.
"The deal took six months to complete," Somchai Thaisanguan-vorakun, executive chairman of SNC, said yesterday.
SSM Automation will be set up as a 49:46:5 joint venture with registered capital of Bt100 billion.
The plant will start up by early next year with projected sales of Bt300 million in its first year of operation.
Somchai said Sugimoto had been a leading auto-parts manufacturer in Japan for 87 years. Its main customer is Suzuki's motorcycle business.
Sugimoto wants to expand overseas. Its hi-tech and high-standard manufacturing strengths will drive production cost-efficiency.
Masuda was an executive of Mitsubishi Electronics. His 14 years of marketing experience will strengthen SNC's management and help it attain its strong ambition to expand its automobile business, Somchai said.
The joint-venture strategy was initiated to capture business opportunities opening up when the Asean region becomes a single market in 2015.
"With a population of 560 million, we believe in growing the market in the long run," he said.
SNC reported third-quarter net profit of Bt111 million on Bt1.43 billion in sales. For the first nine months, it earned Bt497 million on sales of Bt7.25 billion.
THE NATION
2 November 2011