MAI-listed Bluebik Group, a strategic and digital tech consultancy, aims to invest 100 million baht in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals as well as joint venture partnerships this year to catch the surging wave of digital transformation services.
"We aim to continue our growth of 50% this year, driven by the rise of digital transformation," said Pochara Arayakarnkul, chief executive of Bluebik.
Large organisations have to cope with changes in customer behaviour, a dynamic competitive landscape and lots of technology to support their transformation journey, he said.
"Bluebik can serve as a strategic consulting partner for firms, particularly those in the SET 50, ranging from banks and finance to the telecoms sector," Mr Pochara said.
Firms are focusing more on optimisation of their existing tech so as to broaden new revenue and reduce cost, he said.
Customers demand integration with other systems through collaboration with partners as the trend of an application programming interface (API) economy is gathering steam, he said.
Bluebik also has expertise in micro service as well as development, security, and operations (DevSecOps), which could accelerate time to market with security and blockchain support.
The company is also gearing up for investment to leverage data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), which could help save cost and find new revenue, for example through AI adoption to support logistic delivery routing to reduce fuel cost, he noted.
According to Mr Pochara, the company is preparing 100 million baht for M&A deals and joint venture partnership this year as the synergy could drive new customer base and business opportunities.
The firm has joined forces with PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc (OR) to establish a joint venture, called Orbit Digital, with 60% owned by Bluebik, to provide a digital mobility and lifestyle service platform.
Last month Bluebik acquired 80% of shares in GMVPI Co, a consultancy in the implementation of SAP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
In the second quarter, the company is set to enter into another acquisition deal involving a human resource-based firm, he noted.
Acquisitions will drive the company to expand to new areas faster with a larger customer base, he said.
Overseas customers, including those in Singapore and Indonesia, contributed 14% of the firm's total revenue last year and a similar proportion can be expected this year.
Warat Laithong, managing director and founder of GMVPI, said companies in retail and auto are chiefly targeted for SAP solution support.
The use of SAP solutions with an ERP maximisation approach would help reduce repetitive tasks and support effective data analytics, he said.
Bluebik yesterday also unveiled LISMA (Line as SAP Mobile Application), which links SAP and Line to bring SAP up-to-date and make it easy to use. For example, approval conducted through the SAP system will be notified to people in charge directly via the Line app.
In 2022, Bluebik expects to generate at least 15 million baht in revenue from SAP-related services. The firm booked 303 million baht in revenue last year with a net profit of 66 million baht.
