CTOS ACQUIRES STAKE IN THAILAND'S BOL IN FURTHER REGIONAL EXPANSION

By Sharifah Hunaini Syed Ismail

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 -- CTOS Digital Sdn Bhd, the holding company of CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd, has announced the acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Business Online Public Company Limited (BOL), Thailand’s leading provider of business decision-making solutions.

CTOS Digital group chief executive officer Dennis Martin said the acquisition of stake in BOL is part of the company’s strategic plans to seek new growth opportunities.

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“CTOS is well on track to become a significant regional player, which gives us a solid platform to thrive not just in credit reporting, but also in digital credit decision-making across Southeast Asia," he said in a statement to Bernama today.

With over 1.6 million local business records, BOL has an extensive database of business information available online, catering to Thailand’s financial institutions, corporates, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and government agencies.

BOL focuses on business intelligence tools designed for effective decision making, as well as an established social business platform with comprehensive data analytics and performance insights.

“Given BOL’s significant position in the data analytics and information solutions market, we believe CTOS’ investment in BOL would give way to a strong synergistic partnership and become a catalyst in delivering greater value to all of our customers,” said Jack Min Intanate, executive chairman at Business Online Public Company Limited PCL.

This move comes within four months of CTOS’ acquisition of CIBI Information Inc. (CIBI), the Philippines’ first and only credit reporting agency, which was its first acquisition beyond Malaysia.

Commenting on the acquisition, Brahmal Vasudevan, founder and CEO of private equity firm Creador, majority shareholder in CTOS, said: “Since we invested in CTOS in 2014, we have actively moved to make Malaysia a centre of excellence for credit reporting in ASEAN.

"The acquisition of this stake in BOL is a significant step in this direction, following our investment in CIBI Philippines earlier this year.

“We are excited to partner with Jack Min Intanate whose entrepreneurial skills built BOL to be a leading player in Thailand. CTOS now has a good footprint across the region, which will be a further catalyst to our growth," he added.

-- BERNAMA