SET-listed Singer Thailand Plc is exploring inorganic growth in an effort to bring its annual sales growth back to 20% in the long run.
The company, a distributor of sewing machines and other electrical appliances, is keen to acquire other distributors and manufacturers of consumer machinery products, chief executive Boonyong Tansakul said.
Business expansion through join-ventures and partnerships are alternatives.
"Our parent, the US-based Singer Group, had no M&A (merger and acquisition) policy for its Thai operation. But they've just allowed us to pursue that model to maintain strong growth in the long-run," Mr Boonyong said.
Singer has set aside a budget of 300-400 million baht for each acquisition deal.
The company is conducting a study on opportunities for inorganic growth which is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year.
The inorganic growth idea was floated as Singer's sales growth is expected to halve to 10% this year from an average 20% over the past five years. The tepid economy, which was crippled by the recent political turmoil, has been blamed for the sharp decline in sales growth.
The sluggish conditions have also taken a toll on Singer Leasing (Thailand), its leasing flagship, due to weak demand from retail customers.
However, the leasing demand from commercial customers has offset the impact of retail customers' thin demand and boosted the firm's lending growth.
Singer Leasing expects loans outstanding will rise to 3.1 billion baht this year from 2.7 billion baht last year.
Separately, Mr Boonyong said the parent company had no policy to allow the Thai venture to expand to other Asean markets.
If Singer manages to acquire targeted manufacturers, this will open up opportunities for the Thai company to be the regional production base of the Singer Group.
As for its 2015 business plan, it targets to expand to multi-brand products and auto loans for pickup trucks to boost Singer's sales and Singer Leasing's loan portfolio.
Singer Leasing will focus solely on commercial pickup trucks. The leasing firm needs to develop a debt-collection system in preparation for the loan service.
Mr Boonyong said the company had sufficient funds to support the new business models under the inorganic growth strategy and business expansion next year. It has issued debentures worth 300 million baht from the 3-billion-baht issuance which recently won the board's approval.
SINGER closed on the SET on Friday at 18.20, down 20 satang, in trade worth 57.3 million baht.