The board of directors of Thailand’s True Corporation (BKK:TRUE) has approved a capital increase of THB60bn (US$1.68bn) to help fund the purchase of 4G spectrum licences, repay loans and invest in mobile.
The board of directors of Thailand’s True Corporation (BKK:TRUE) has approved a capital increase of THB60bn (US$1.68bn) to help fund the purchase of 4G spectrum licences and repay loans.
An additional 15 billion ordinary shares will be issued at a par value of THB4 (US$0.11), taking True Corp’s registered share capital from THB98.43bn (US$2.75bn) to THB158.43bn (US$4.43bn), the telco said in a stock exchange filing.
Due to volatility in international stock markets, the board has not yet set a fixed offering price, the company said. However, it has set a method for calculating it: 0.9 multiplied by the company’s weighted average share price in the 20 business days between 3 and 30 March. The price will be announced via the Thai stock exchange on 31 March.
New shares will be made available to existing shareholders, proportionate to their existing holdings.
Proceeds will be used to help fund mobile subsidiary True Move’s purchase of the second licence in the government’s 4G auction, which concluded last December, raising THB152bn (US$4.22bn).
True Move said in a stock exchange filing at the time that it had agreed to pay THB76.3bn (US$2.1bn) for 905-915 MHz spectrum pairing to 950-960 MHz.
In its most recent filing, True Corp said proceeds from the capital raise will also be used to repay loans used to invest in the online and mobile businesses, of THB8bn (US$223.87m) and THB32bn (US$894.68m) respectively. A further THB20bn (US$559.18m) will be used for new investments in mobile.
True Move is Thailand’s third largest mobile operator behind AIS and Dtac. According to the GSMA, True has 1.7 million 4G subscribers.
