Japanese giant GMO Internet Inc has acquired a 49% stake in Thai web hosting company NetDesign for 500 million baht and is injecting an additional 1 billion baht for expansion.
GMO-Z.com NetDesign Co, a 49:51 venture between the Japanese and Thai companies, has been set up as a new holding company for investment in cloud-based services, web hosting, digital marketing and online advertising, and e-commerce services.
The acquisition deal was part of GMO's international expansion, marking its largest overseas investment.
"We [GMO] aim for overseas revenue to account for half of our total in the near future, up from 4% in 2016," said Masatoshi Kumagai, chief executive of GMO Internet Inc.
GMO Internet Group has 105 subsidiaries globally, including nine companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
"Thailand is our second overseas investment in Asean, after Vietnam," Mr Kumagai said, adding that Myanmar and the Philippines are next on the list.
Given 70 million people in Thailand with heavy social media usage, the country presents highly lucrative opportunities for internet services, Mr Kumagai said.
He said the digital era will last at least three decades because the internet only just began 15 years ago. The average period of industrial revolutions was 45 years.
Mr Kumagai said the internet business in Japan has been growing steadily, but not as fast as in Asean.
Chalermruth Narkvichien, chief executive of GMO-Z.com NetDesign, said the company will provide digital lifestyle-based services instead of IT services under the Z.Com brand to serve individuals' everyday needs.
The company chose Chanathip Songkrasin, simply known as Messi Jay, as a presenter to raise brand awareness.
Mr Chalermruth said the company plans to launch an initial public offering by 2020 for an undisclosed amount. He said the government's Thailand 4.0 economic initiative is expected to drive demand for internet services.
"We need to prepare funding to expand our business to serve surges in demand," he said.
GMO-Z.com NetDesign has also established a new subsidiary, GMO-Z.com Trade Thailand, the online trading arm with 1 billion baht in registered capital.
Megumu Motohisa, chief executive of GMO-Z.com Trade Thailand, said the company is in the process of seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide pure-play online stock-trading websites with lowered commission fees.