The largest shareholder of Thai telco True Corp took out a US$440m term facility to take part in its recent sale of new shares, it has emerged.
Privately-held Charoen Pokphand Holding Company, one of Asia’s largest conglomerates, secured the debt from…
The largest shareholder of Thai telco True Corp took out a US$440m term facility to take part in its recent sale of new shares, it has emerged.
Privately-held Charoen Pokphand Holding Company, one of Asia’s largest conglomerates, secured the debt from Bangkok Bank and the deal involved multi-bilateral facilities from other banks.
Proceeds were used to buy shares that True Corp issued earlier this month to bring in state-owned China Mobile as a partner to help expand across Southeast Asia.
Of the roughly 10.08 billion new shares that started trading on 9 September, around 5.65 billion went to existing shareholders. The remaining went to China Mobile, which paid a total US$882m to amass an 18% stake in the telco.
Bangkok Bank was advised on its deal with Charoen by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
Somboon Kitiyansub, the Norton Rose Fulbright partner that led its team in Bangkok, said: “The equity raised by True Corporation will reduce its interest expenses and fund the rollout of a faster fourth-generation network with new telecom licences expected to be opened for bidding in 2015.”
Founded in 1921, Charoen Pokphand has telecoms, agribusiness, food, retail and distribution investments in 16 countries, and claimed US$41bn in revenue for 2013.
True Corp was meanwhile seen to be using China Mobile’s expertise to enter Myanmar’s newly-opened telecoms market. However, recently it was revealed that talks with Yatanarpon Teleport to upgrade the local ISP into a mobile operator have been put on hold, leaving the Myanmar-based group free to negotiate with other operators.
