Chinese tech giant Tencent—which counts billionaires Ma Huateng and Martin Lau among its biggest shareholders—and its unit Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) have agreed to buy 10% of Thailand’s GMM Music for $70 million.
The deal, which values GMM Music at $700 million, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year, ahead of GMM Music’s planned IPO on the Thai bourse, parent GMM Grammy said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Under the deal, Tencent and TME will pay $45 million in cash for the purchase of the GMM Music stake, and transfer 30% of its stake in Thai online music streaming platform Joox Thailand to GMM Grammy.
“The investment will solidify our spin-off plan,” Phawit Chitrakorn, CEO of GMM Music, said in a separate statement. “This partnership will lead to cooperative efforts in expanding our business into new and larger markets, where China is one of the key target territories with its immense market potential.”
GMM Grammy shares rose as much as 5.3% in early morning Wednesday trading after surging 30% to the daily ceiling on Tuesday, closing at 7.55 baht. The company approved plans to list GMM Music in July 2023. It plans to sell as much as 30% of new and existing shares in GMM Music—which manages Thai music artists such as Bird Thongchai, Peck Palitchoke, and rock band Bodyslam—in the IPO.
“As the music industry is entering the second wave boom, with revenue surpassing all time high and continuing on the upswing, GMM Music has developed a new strategic roadmap to drive our future growth, along with continuously improving the infrastructure for the Thai music industry,” Chitrakorn said. “One of our key strategies is to develop collaborative partnerships with international music industry leaders, who believe in the potential of Thai Music. We are greatly delighted that TME and Tencent have agreed to make a strategic investment in GMM Music”
GMM Grammy is one of Thailand’s leading entertainment firms with interests in integrated services including music, media, movie, broadcasting, artist management, and home shopping. It posted a net loss of 132.6 million baht in 2023 from a net profit of 166.4 million baht in 2022 while revenues rose to 6 billion baht from 5.3 billion baht in 2022.
