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To maintain position as the leader in online gaming industry in Southeast Asia
Bangkok, 8 October 2007 - Asiasoft Corporation Public Company Limited, the industry leader in Southeast Asia for providing online gaming services, announced its plan to offer 75 million shares to the public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). With the business of online entertaining in the region growing at a healthy pace, Asiasoft's hope is to use the additional capital to solidify its leadership position and to show that Thai companies are indeed capable of ‘Going Big' in the international market. DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) Company Limited has been appointed the financial advisor in the offering.
"Asiasoft Corporation filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) for an Initial Public Offering of 75 million shares on Friday, 5 October 2007," announced Mr. Pramoth Sudjitporn, CEO of Asiasoft Corporation Public Co. Ltd. "The propose of the IPO is to raise capital to expand our businesses in the region, especially online gaming service in Vietnam and Malaysia, where growth has been very positive."
Asiasoft currently offers 12 games including Maple Story, Audition, Yulgang, Ragnarok Online and Cabal in four countries - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. The company announced plans to launch more than seven new games in the first half of 2008. Beside its online gaming service, Asiasoft also runs the game portal service, www.playpark.com, and has started developing its own online games, having recently launched its first title, Play Arcade. The company is also involved in online advertising.
"Online games are the core of the online entertainment industry," explained Mr. Pramoth. "The global online gaming market is worth more than USD4 billion or 136 billion baht and that is expected to grow contiually with Compound Annual Growth Rate at 25.2 percent per year during 2007-2010. The expansion of hi-speed and broadband internet is the major factor supporting this growth. Asiasoft wants to be the company leading that growth."
Calculated based on 2006 revenues from its online gaming business, Asiasoft ranked number one in Thailand and Singapore with 59.6 percent and 69.8 percent market shares respectively. It placed second in Malaysia with 21.2 percent and also second in Vietnam with 15.8 percent of the online gaming market.
According to Mr. Pramoth, since starting online gaming business in 2003 Asiasoft's turnover grow progressively with Compound Annual Growth Rate and net profit at 28.7 percent and 230.2 percent per year respectively, benefiting from the rising popularity of online gaming in the region. Total revenues for Asiasoft in 2006 stood at 1,056.30 million baht with growth of 21.3 percent year-on-year. For the first half of 2007, the company recorded revenues of 705.15 million baht and 55.0 percent growth over the previous year.
"Asiasoft has a strong business plan for the region in a sector with strong growth opportunities," said Ms. Patteera Dilokrungteerapop, CEO of DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand), Asiasoft's financial advisor in the IPO. "Online gaming is an industry that is very attractive to foreign investors but what Asiasoft wants to do is create an opportunity for Thais to own a part of the biggest online entertaining company in Southeast Asia. And that is something we Thais should all be proud of."
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About Asiasoft Corporation Public Co. Ltd.
Established in 2001, Asiasoft Corporation Public Company Limited, a leader in online entertainment provider in Southeast Asia, focuses on online gaming providing in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. The company has affiliates which cover computer and online game development, online advertising and game portal service.
At present, Asiasoft provides 12 online games in 4 countries; Thailand (8 games), Singapore (4 games), Malaysia (4 games) and Vietnam (5 games) with more than 17.2 million registration-base gamers. Maple Story, Audition Dance Online, Yulgang, Ragnarok Online and Cabal are the most famous online games operated by Asiasoft.
