(Feb 5): Thai Summit Group, the Southeast Asian country’s largest auto-parts manufacturer, is weighing a sale of its business amid mounting pressure from the global shift to electric vehicles (EVs), political uncertainty and family succession gaps, according to people familiar with the matter.
Multiple global investment banks have recently renewed pitches to the Juangroongruangkit family that owns the company, for a disposal that could fetch between US$1.5 billion ($1.91 billion) and US$2 billion, the people said, asking to not be identified because the information is private. The firm has yet to appoint a financial adviser, and early-stage talks might not lead to a mandate.
While legacy auto suppliers in general are facing headwinds from technological disruption, generational handover issues have become increasingly common among Asia’s family-owned businesses. Banks have also floated CVC Capital Partners, Warburg Pincus and Blackstone Inc, among others, to Thai Summit as potential suitors, without making formal approaches, the people said.
Thai Summit didn’t respond to multiple emails seeking comment.
Members of the founding family, which built the company into a bedrock of Thailand’s auto industry over several decades, have struggled to identify a successor to run the business after founder Pattana Juangroongruangkit passed away in 2002. Banks see the potential mandate as attractive given the rarity of Southeast Asian companies of this size that could come to market, the people said.
A Wall Street bank estimated the sale in 2024 at a valuation of up to US$2.8 billion, but talks failed to move beyond the pitch stage due to misaligned family interests, one of the people said. EV competition is now weighing on margins and expected to drag valuations lower.
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The firm generates more than US$250 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization on annual revenue exceeding US$2.6 billion, and employs more than 20,000 people nationwide, the person said. The company also runs factories in countries including China, Japan and India.
Thailand’s automobile sales rose to a two-year high in 2025, led by EVs, which accounted for 45% of deliveries. Vehicle production is expected to total 1.5 million units in 2026, little changed from last year, according to figures from the Federation of Thai Industries released last week.
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The pitches are taking place as Thailand heads toward a Feb 8 election, adding complexity to the process. Members of the Juangroongruangkit family have been linked to the Move Forward Party, which was dissolved in 2024 after seeking changes to the country’s lèse-majesté law, which carries prison terms of up to 15 years.
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