Mr. Jaime Martirez – Group CEO, Managing Director, and Treasurer, Unicapital Group of Companies, Dr. Win Udomrachtavanich – Authorized Director and Chairman, KTBST, Mr. Leonardo R. Arguelles, Jr. – President & CEO, Unicapital Securities, Inc. and Managing Director, Unicapital Inc.
Investing in the growing market and economy of Thailand made more accessible to Philippine
investors with the recent partnership of Unicapital Group and KTB Securities Thailand.
Unicapital Group, one of the leading investment houses in the Philippines, signed an MOU with KTB Securities (Thailand) Public Company Limited or KTBST with the objective of expanding market collaborations between Thai and Philippine investors in investment banking and investing
in the stock market.
The partnership focuses on three possible areas involving 1) Public fund-raising transactions from institutional clients in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), including equity stocks, fixed income, and mutual funds 2) Dual-listing on the PSE and SET and 3) Cooperation in the establishment of infrastructure funds of interested assets or projects in
both countries, such as geothermal power plants.
“With decades of experience in investment banking and stock brokerage services, Unicapital, an
independent financial services company, is perfectly positioned to originate and participate in
many of these types of transactions. Our local knowledge, combined with the extensive network
and resources that KTBST brings to the table, will make our partnership a formidable one.
KTBSTand Unicapital’s partnership is envisioned to bring companies to public listings in Manila and
Bangkok, or cross listings in both markets in line with the ASEAN thrust to foster greater capital
mobility between ASEAN member countries. Mergers and acquisitions in Thailand, the Philippines,
and even around the region with the ASEAN integration soon to be a reality are the opportunities
that make this partnership truly exciting. I am proud to forge this partnership with KTBST and look
forward to a fruitful and exciting future together,” Mr. Jaime J. Martirez said, the CEO of
Unicapital Group.
Mr. Martirez spoke about the continued favorable medium-term economic outlook of the Philippines on the back of a young and growing middle income population, strong domestic consumption, the government’s accelerated infrastructure spending and stable foreign directinvestment inflows which is tempered by the upcoming 2019 Philippine elections, continued rapid credit growth, weaker Peso and global trade tensions. He further noted that foreign direct investments into the Philippines hit a record level of USD10.05 billion in 2017. From this, Mr. Martirez highlighted the key sectors which Unicapital saw driving growth and investment opportunities in the Philippines namely, renewable energy, infrastructure, hotel and tourism, property, urbanization outside of Metro Manila, e-commerce and technology, and agriculture.
Dr. Win Udomrachtavanich, Ph.D., Executive chairman of KTBST mentioned that they decided to collaborate with Unicapital because both companies have an independent organization structure in which neither are subsidiaries of any commercial bank.
“We have the same management structure and working people. We also have the expertise in
business and a deep understanding of capital markets,”Dr. Udomrachtavanich said.
Moreover, as a financial institution, KTBST intends to increase investment opportunities and diversify investments for clients and investors. The Philippines is one of the high-growth markets in ASEAN with strong and stable economic prospects and has many big-capitalization listed companies.
The Philippine stock market is a new market for Thai investors with many interesting major industries, which are consumer, entertainment, food and beverage, and utilities, which includes the energy sector. On the other hand, the Thai stock market is the most active market in ASEAN with many attractive industries for Philippine investors to take part in – such as a strong and outstanding financials industry, large energy and utilities businesses, and a sizeable property and construction and services commerce industry.
“As your economy continues on its path of growth and development, we see many opportunities for Philippine investors like ourselves to participate. I am sure there are many Thai and Filipino companies that we can bring together to create mutually beneficial partnerships here. And as Thailand explores new engines of growth in technology-intensive industries like robotics, aerospace, and biotechnology, Filipino corporations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are looking for opportunities beyond our shores.
Thailand is definitely one of the places where they will be happy to look. Philippine companies like San Miguel, SM, JG Summit, Ayala, the Lopez Group, Alliance Global of Andrew Tan, ICTSI of Enrique Razon, and many others are slowly establishing themselves in other ASEAN countries. Earlier this year, Ayala’s Manila Water Company acquired 19% stake in East Water of Thailand. At the same time, Thai companies are not strangers to the Philippines.” said Atty. Avelino J. Cruz, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Unicapital Securities, Inc. (USI), and Director for Unicapital, Inc. (UI) during his opening speech. Atty. Cruz also mentioned that now is the perfect time for Unicapital to enter into a partnership
with KTBST.
“These are just some of the many examples of the growing business ties between our two
countries. As we edge closer to greater ASEAN economic integration in 2025, these bilateral business deals are only going to increase in size and frequency, which is why I believe this partnership between KTBST and Unicapital is destined for great things. Together, with our combined networks, local knowledge, financial expertise and regional ambitions, we are poised to carve out a defining space in facilitating and orchestrating the most interesting and innovative deals in the coming years,” Atty. Cruz enclosed.
Unicapital Group is a full-service investment house duly licensed by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission to provide the widest array of finance and investment banking-related product lines. Supported by its lending and securities brokerage subsidiaries, Unicapital Finance & Investments, Inc. and Unicapital Securities, Inc., the Group aims to provide innovative financial solutions to the Philippine mid-cap markets. To know more about Unicapital Group, please visit www.unicapital-inc.com.
