Thai Distressed Asset Firm BAM Seeks To Raise $1.2b In IPO

State-owned Bangkok Commercial Asset Management Pcl, Thailand’s biggest manager of distressed assets, is looking to raise as much as 35 billion baht ($1.2 billion) in its coming initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

BAM, a unit of the central bank, expects to raise between 32 billion baht and 35 billion baht based on initial indicative price range, said one of the people, requesting anonymity because the matter is private. The company, which began gauging investor demand for its IPO this week, is tentatively planning to start a domestic roadshow next week and an international one from Nov. 25, another person said.

BAM plans to offer as many as 1.77 billion shares in the IPO, reducing the central bank’s stake to as low as 45.6%, according to its IPO filing.

Details of the offering including timeline and size could still change as deliberations continue, the people said. The indicative price range could be higher due to strong investor demand, one of the people said. A representative for BAM didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

BAM had net income of 4 billion baht in the January-June period, compared with 2.15 billion baht in the same period a year earlier, according to the filing. The fundraising target for the IPO is higher than the $700 million that Bloomberg reported last year, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Bloomberg