Stark Corporation
{{Short description|Thai cable manufacturer holding company}}
{{About-distinguish|the Thai company|Stark Industries}}
{{Use DMY dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Stark Corporation
| logo =
| logo_caption =
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt =
| former_name = {{unbulleted list|Team A Holding 2 Co., Ltd.|Siam Inter Multimedia PLC}}
| type = Public company
| traded_as = {{SET |STARK}}
| industry = Industrials
| founded = {{Start date and age|2015|04|1}} as Team A Holding 2 in Bangkok
| hq_location_city = Bangkok
| hq_location_country = Thailand
| area_served =
| key_people = Chanin Yensudchai (former CEO)
| products = Electric cable
| owner = Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon (50.16% in 2022)
| num_employees = 3,000{{cite news |url=https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=STARK:SET |title=Equities: Stark Corporation PCL |date=June 30, 2023 |publisher=Financial Times }}
| num_employees_year = 2023
| parent =
| website = {{URL|https://www.starkcorporation.com/}}
}}
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.
History
Stark 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.
PDIT had been founded as Phelps Dodge Thailand in 1968. In 2015, Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, whose family is best known as the owners of TOA Paint, acquired a majority stake in PDIT 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.{{cite web |title=ตระกูลตั้งคารวคุณ เศรษฐีอันดับ 7 ไทย ภายหลังการเข้าจดทะเบียนของ STARK |url=https://www.longtunman.com/22950 |website=Longtunman |access-date=29 July 2024 |language=th |date=7 May 2020}}{{cite web |title=คมเจ้าพ่อแบ็คดอร์หมื่นล. ปั้นSTARKก้าวกระโดด |url=https://thunhoon.com/article/209636 |website=thunhoon.com |access-date=29 July 2024 |language=th |date=17 September 2019}}
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.{{cite news |last1=Regalado |first1=Francesca |title=How Thailand's Stark covered up debt and losses at Vietnam wire maker |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Market-Spotlight/How-Thailand-s-Stark-covered-up-debt-and-losses-at-Vietnam-wire-maker |access-date=28 July 2024 |work=Nikkei Asia |date=31 July 2023}}{{Cite news | last=Wiriyapong |first=Nareerat | date=2023-07-05 | title=The Stark reality of a company in decline | work=Bangkok Post | url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2605686/the-stark-reality-of-a-company-in-decline | access-date=29 July 2024}}