Namwiwat Medical Corporation (Nam), a Thai sterilised medical equipment maker and seller, aims to become a key manufacturer on the global stage by partnering with national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc following a successful expansion in Southeast Asia.
The company recently sold a 17.6% stake worth 800 million baht to PTT and is preparing to raise more funds through an initial public offering (IPO), said Viroj Chaiturdkiet, chief executive of Nam.
PTT is strengthening its position in the healthcare business through its biotechnology subsidiary Innobic (Asia), which earlier forged an agreement with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization and Taiwan-based Lotus Pharmaceutical.
Nam and Innobic have agreed to synergise their expertise to further grow Nam’s business in the global market.
“We have already expanded our business in the Indochina region and China. It is now time for us to scale up our company,” said Mr Viroj.
The market value of sterilised medical equipment in Thailand stands at 10 billion baht. The value increases to 40-50 billion baht in the Asean market, according to the company.
Nam also imports medical equipment from Argentina, Finland, Italy and Switzerland to sell in Thailand.
Under its IPO scheme, the company plans to sell a maximum of 181 million shares, around 25.86% of the total, on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, with Finnex Advisory Co and Thanachart Securities as its financial advisers.
The share sales will lower the proportion of shares held by the Chaiturdkiet family to 59.14%, down from 82.35%, while Innobic’s shareholding will reduce to 15%.
Cash from the IPO is expected to be part of Nam’s capital spending. Around 500 million baht will be allocated over the next three years to improve its factory in Samut Prakan and expand the factory compound.
Mr Viroj believes the sterilised medical equipment business will keep growing, following the impact of Covid-19, which indicates the world may encounter a similar outbreak of communicable diseases in the future, thus causing a need for sterilised medical equipment.
At present, more than 2,000 state and private hospitals are its main customers.
Last year Nam earned 1.1 billion baht, up from 1 billion baht in 2021. It saw net profit in 2022 increase by 3% to 175 million baht, up from 170 million baht in 2021.
The company is conducting a pilot project to turn infected waste from a hospital into refuse derived fuel, also known as RDF, for power generation. This project is being carried out in conjunction with the King Chulaongkorn Memorial Hospital.
