<article>Thailand’s leading cinema operators, Major Cineplex Group (MAJOR) and SF Corp Plc, are planning an investment of $229 million (7.5 billion baht) to expand aggressively in both the domestic and the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries, over the next five years.</article>

Thailand’s leading cinema operators, Major Cineplex Group (MAJOR) and SF Corp Plc, are planning an investment of $229 million (7.5 billion baht) to expand aggressively in both the domestic and the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries, over the next five years.
While Major Cineplex is has an investment outlay of $152 million (five billion baht) for organic expansion, SF Corp is planning an IPO of $ 76 million (2.5 billion baht) next year to fund its expansion.
For the next five years (2015-2020), Thailand&#8217;s largest cinema operator, MAJOR Cineplex, has an investment budget of 5 billion baht for adding 400 screens in domestic and 100 screens in Southeast Asia focusing on Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Currently, there are 800 screens in Thailand, of which more than 500 belong to Major Group in 33 provinces. Therefore, the number of its screen is expected to double by 2020.
“If we compare the current amount of screens to 66 million population in Thailand, we will see big room to grow,” said MAJOR’s chief executive officer Vicha Poolvaraluck.
The group presently has one cinema in Cambodia. In 2015, it will open one more cinema in Phnom Penh and another in Laos, which will contain 5-6 screens each. Myanmar and Vietnam will be the next destinations for its investment, Vicha said.
In the coming year, it will open 100 screens with the investment of more than 1.5 billion baht, the highest investment budget since it started the business 21 years ago.
It targets to grow by 10%-15% each year and raise the revenue to 15 billion baht in 2020. This year it generates the revenue of 8 billion baht, up 10% from 2013. Meanwhile, the cinema business should maintain at the same level as last year because of the economic slowdown and the political chaos in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, SF Corp, the second largest cinema operator, also plans to raise the fund worth 2.5 billion baht ($76.80 million) in its initial public offering in the second or third quarter next year to serve its expansion plan.
According to Reuters, it plans to offer 250 million shares, or 25% of total stake to the public.
Chief Executive Suwat Thongrompo said it will use the IPO fund to open three more cinemas this year and 4-6 more in 2015 with a target to boost its market share from 35% to 40%. Furthermore, it is also studying the possibility to expand its business into CLMV markets.
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Thai cinema majors eye CLMV markets

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