Italian-Thai Development, Thailand´s largest construction company, said it will pay US$72 million for Asia Pacific Resources, a Canada- based potash miner.

The buy is part of a strategy to move away from its core business of construction. Italian-Thai will buy 86% of Asia Pacific shares, and 98% of its warrants, the Thai company said in a statement to the exchange.

Asia Pacific holds prospecting licenses for potash in Udon Thani province, about 700 kilometers northeast of the Thai capital.Italian-Thai´s President Premchai Karnasuta said the company planned to invest 20 billion baht to develop potash mining as it seeks to grow earnings away from construction, which is subject to cycles, tighter margins and increasing competition.Italian-Thai also plans to triple its cement production capacity to 3 million metric tonnes a year from about 1 million currently, Premchai said during a plant visit outside Bangkok last month.