A leading Thai firm and three international outfits advise on US$1.57bn IPO
Four firms worked on Thailand’s largest ever IPO for a company.
Weerawong, Chinnavat & Partners and Latham & Watkins advised Asset World Corporation (AWC) on its listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). AWC is the hospitality and property business of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
Allen & Overy and White & Case advised the financial adviser and the underwriters. These included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS, which were the joint international coordinators. Bualuang Securities, Kasikorn Securities, Phatra Securities, and Siam Commercial Bank were among the domestic underwriters.
The IPO raised US$1.57bn. Weerawong said that the market capitalisation of the company on its debut was US$6.2bn.
There was an even larger IPO in 2013 on the SET, but that was the listing of the Digital Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (DIF), an infrastructure fund. AWC is the SET’s largest listing of a company.
AWC offered 8 billion shares. International investors bought 53% of those shares, with the rest going to domestic investors. AWC said that it will use proceeds to buy assets, develop and renovate existing properties, and cut debt.
