Trading in Thai operator True Corp has been halted upon request from the operator ahead of a board meeting today.
The company said the board will make a decision, which will likely impact how investors trade its shares but did not comment further. True…
Trading in Thai operator True Corp has been halted upon request from the operator ahead of a board meeting today.
The company said the board will make a decision, which will likely impact how investors trade its shares but did not comment further. True Corp could not be reached for further details.
However, a Reuters report suggests that the Thai telco is about to offer an 18% stake in itself to the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, China Mobile, via a private placement.
Based on True Corp’s current market capitalisation of Bt108bn (US$3.3bn), the 18% stake is valued at around US$600m.
The company is also looking to offer new shares via a rights issue by selling seven new shares for 10 existing shares, according to the report.
This would be in line with True Corp’s previously-announced plan to bring in a foreign partner to expand in Southeast Asia.
In March, its CEO Suphachai Chearavanont told reporters that his company was seeking to offer new shares equivalent to 25% of its existing equity to a new investor.
True is the only major Thai operator without at least one foreign partner. Its largest shareholder is local conglomerate Charoen Pokphand.
Chearavanont said the telco was looking to gain an extra 100 million subscribers in the region by 2019.
Its first deal could be in Myanmar. Earlier this year, it emerged that True was in talks with Myanmar-based ISP Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP) to start offering joint mobile services in the country.
The Thai operator – which provides mobile, fixed-line and broadband services – listed some its infrastructure assets in a US$1.8bn IPO late last year but most of the proceeds are expected to be used to repay debt.
China Mobile has over 775 million customers in its home country. It also has wireless operations in Hong Kong and Pakistan.
Last year, it partnered with Vodafone to apply for mobile licences in Myanmar but later withdrew from the process. The frequencies eventually went to Telenor and Ooredoo.
China Mobile, which reportedly mandated CICC for the deal, did not respond to requests for comments. True Corp mandated Deutsche Bank.
