Following last November's successful flotation of PTT, the Thai government has re-started its ambitious privatization programme with plans to sell 47% of BankThai through the public equity markets. The price range was set this weekend at Bt10.30 to Bt12.30 per share, representing a 2.4% to 18.3% discount to Friday's Bt12.6 close.
The range has been deliberately kept wide, but most Thai experts nevertheless expect pricing to fall towards the bottom end of the range given the government's strategic aims for the roughly $200 million offering and the difficulties of marketing the Thai banking sector to investors. With a large number of state assets being prepared for sale and a one year gap since...
