Stark Corporation Public Company Limited is a Thai holding company in the electric cable manufacturing industry. It was formed in 2019 through a backdoor listing, and was listed on the SET100 index, but lost most of its value in 2023 after it was found to have falsified financial statements.
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public company |
| SET: STARK | |
| Industry | Industrials |
| Founded | April 1, 2015 as Team A Holding 2 in Bangkok |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Chanin Yensudchai (former CEO) |
| Products | Electric cable |
| Owner | Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon (50.16% in 2022) |
Number of employees | 3,000[1] (2023) |
| Website | www |
History
editStark was set up as a holding company for Phelps Dodge International (Thailand) (PDIT), the former Thai unit of Phelps Dodge and Thailand's largest cable manufacturer.
Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, whose family is best known as the owners of TOA Paint, acquired a majority stake in PDIT in 2015 as its previous owners exited the Thai market. Team A Holding 2 Co., Ltd. (TAH2) was set up as a private holding company for the business, and Chanin Yensudchai became its CEO.[2][3]
In 2019, Vonnarat acquired a majority stake in comic book publisher Siam Inter Multimedia PCL, which was merged with TAH2 in a backdoor listing and renamed to Stark Corporation PCL on 10 July 2019.
In 2020, Stark acquired Vietnamese manufacturers Thipha Cable and Dovina. The new subsidiaries brought heavy losses, but these were covered up in Stark's financial reports. In an attempt to raise cash, it announced plans in 2022 to acquire a subsidiary of Germany's Leoni AG, but withdrew from the purchase. This shook investor confidence and the company's shares fell sharply, and in the ensuing fallout, the Securities and Exchange Commission stepped in to suspend trading, seized the company's assets, and brought fraud charges against its executives.[4][5]
References
edit- ^ "Equities: Stark Corporation PCL". Financial Times. 30 June 2023.
- ^ "ตระกูลตั้งคารวคุณ เศรษฐีอันดับ 7 ไทย ภายหลังการเข้าจดทะเบียนของ STARK". Longtunman (in Thai). 7 May 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "คมเจ้าพ่อแบ็คดอร์หมื่นล. ปั้นSTARKก้าวกระโดด". thunhoon.com (in Thai). 17 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Regalado, Francesca (31 July 2023). "How Thailand's Stark covered up debt and losses at Vietnam wire maker". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ Wiriyapong, Nareerat (5 July 2023). "The Stark reality of a company in decline". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 29 July 2024.