Airasia Proposing Acquisition Of Thai Firms For US$50 Mln

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Group Bhd (AAGB) has proposed to acquire two Thai companies, Velox Technology (Thailand) Co. Ltd and Velox Fintech Co. Ltd. for US$40 million and US$10 million (US$1=RM4.16), respectively. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, the budget carrier said the proposal was conveyed via its units, AisAsia ADS Sdn Bhd (AirAsia Superapp) and AirAsia Digital Sdn Bhd (ADD). “The proposed acquisitions provides AirAsia Superapp with immediate access to an existing e-commerce business with registered food merchants, delivery partners and on-ground resources to jump start AirAsia Superapp’s e-commerce business and reduce cost and time to enter the Thailand online consumer market. “Subject to the integration and successful migration of users and merchants, AirAsia Superapp would have access to an incremental customer base, where it could cross-sell and up-sell other AirAsia Superapp services to these customers and drive further topline growth for AirAsia Superapp,” it said. AAGB said that the proposed Velox Fintech acquisition would enable the expansion of e-money products for the AAD group of companies that are currently offering e-money products and services. “It is anticipated that the speed of deployment in the market will be accelerated by virtue of acquiring the regulatory assets,” it said, adding that the proposed acquisitions are subject to the approval from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand. At the time of writing, AirAsia’s shares rose by 2.16 per cent to 94.5 sen, with 15.46 million shares transacted. -- BERNAMA