Master Ad Public Company Limited or MACO, one of the leaders in Out-of-Home media with diverse network covering Thailand and the ASEAN region, and YGGDrazil Group Public Company Limited, or YGG, the top service provider of visual effect and 3D animation specializing in full post production services for commercials, feature films and games, announced a 50:50 joint venture worth THB 200mn, in recognition of the increasing prominence of the digital content industry, especially online gaming, and building on BTS Group’s MATCH strategy to boost business growth through new synergies. Through this partnership, it is expected that 5-7 new games will be launched into the market within the next 3 years.
The gaming industry in Thailand has been receiving growing interests from big and small investors alike, thanks to the government’s support for the creation of the Thailand E-Sports Federation (TESF) with the aim to turn gamers into professional e-Sports athletes. Moreover, the surge of the digital economy in Thailand and ASEAN over the past 2 to 3 years has boosted the growth of the gaming industry by 15% – currently valued at USD 900mn – particularly mobile games. Given increasing internet accessibility, which enables people to access mobile games anytime anywhere, and the rising number of smartphones, social media games and interests in e-Sports, the gaming industry is expected to continue growing in the coming years. Today, the gaming industry in the Southeast Asian market is valued at USD 4.4bn, with online gamers constituting 67% of the overall online population.
Following BTS Group’s strategic investment in YGG in December 2020, now holding a 9.09% stake, coupled with the aforementioned reasons, MACO and YGG have made the strategic decision to enter into the joint venture to drive the value of both companies. Owing to the increasing market potential of the gaming industry in Thailand and Southeast Asia, MACO and YGG seek to pursue Game Publishing with the aim to position themselves as the leading game developer, game publisher and importer of games as well as gaming service provider in Thailand and the ASEAN region. It is also expected that this partnership shall foster a gaming ecosystem that will in turn drive the Thai gaming industry into the global market.
Mr. Tanat Juwiwat, CEO of YGG, noted, “Through this alliance, both companies will be able to leverage each other’s strengths and expertise to develop quality services together with prominent partners such as BTSG, VGI, PlanB, Rabbit Group and Zipmex. Moreover, MACO will help fulfil the gaming ecosystem by strengthening YGG platform to better promote new games in Thailand and Southeast Asia through its advertising platforms. This is the existing strength of MACO, VGI and PlanB within the fast-growing Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Furthermore, we wish to drive synergies on the digital front with Jmart group, namely in financial technology and Crypto Digital Token, to unlock value creation in the future. After we have signed this joint venture agreement, YGG team will visit South Korea to study the gaming industry and to select high potential games for importing into Thailand. This marks our very first project since entering into the joint venture.”
At present, the number of people who can access the internet and smartsphones is growing constantly. Coupled with the emerging digital trends globally, in particular in mobile games, the strategic alliance with YGG shall enable us to leverage such global connectedness along with YGG’s experience in producing and publishing games to achieve success. This is also part of our strategic decision to shift our focus from solely traditional Out-of-Home media to the digital industry, which will be at forefront of the future global market trends, especially the global gaming industry, whose value is projected to reach over USD 200bn in the next 3 years” added Mr. Phoon Chiong Kit, CEO of MACO.
