News
King Power acquires 40% stake in Thai AirAsia
June 17th 2016
Thai duty-free conglomerate, King Power, has agreed to buy 39.82% of Thai AirAsia for $225 million. The purchase allows King Power's billionaire owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, to tap deeper into Thailand's tourism industry, fuelled largely by growing Mainland arrivals, and to expand beyond his fast-growing duty-free, hotel and football portfolio. Read More »
Thai AirAsia, Thailand’s largest LCC, is 55% owned by publicly-listed Asia Aviation, with the remaining 45% held by Malaysia’s AirAsia Group.
King Power is acquiring the 39.82% holding from Asia Aviation and Thai AirAsia CEO, Tassapon Biljeveld, and his family. A filing with Thailand’s Stock Exchange revealed Bijleveld had reduced his equity from 13% to 5% and that his daughter, Pattaree, and wife, Siritorn, disposed of their entire shareholdings of 19% and 13%, respectively.
King Power significantly increased its revenues after it won a monopoly duty-free concession at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha previously made the headlines when he acquired British football club Leicester City, which made history when it won this season's Premier League.
Thai AirAsia operates a fleet of 48 A320s to 54 destinations. In the past year, it has been carving out new markets, particularly routes to Chinese metropolises. The budget airline carried 14.8 million passengers in 2015 and plans to increase passengers it carries to 16.9 million this year.
