(Bangkok Post via NewsEdge) Thai operator True announced that it had sold 402 million new shares in a private placement with investors at 8.4 baht ($0.22) per share.
Phatra Securities and UBS are the underwriters for the offering, which will raise the telecom company's paid-up capital by 4.02 billion baht ($106 million) to 44.99 billion baht ($1.1 billion).
Proceeds will be used to finance the growth of its mobile subsidiary True Move.
The CP Group, a major shareholder of True, will be allocated 140 million shares, or 34.8% of the total offering.
The offering is the second lot of new shares out of an 800-million-share program approved in September 2004. True issued 398 million shares under the program in December 2004.
Athueck Asvanund, the vice-chairman of True, said the placement was made to CP Group, as the company's major shareholder, as well as to institutional investors. He denied that the offering was made to bring in any new strategic partners, but was rather 'part of the company's normal operations' and had been approved long ago by shareholders.
The fund-raising comes as True gears up to tap the potential of the VoIP market, which is projected to grow at least tenfold to more than 100 million baht ($2.6 million) by year-end.
It earlier announced plans to begin commercial VoIP services for PC-to-PC and PC-to-telephone calls on July 20.
c 2006 Bangkok Post
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