Thai telecoms group Jasmine International PCL said it had received regulatory approval for the stock market flotation of its $1.8 billion broadband Internet infrastructure fund. The listing, which had been delayed since late last year due to legal issues and domestic political unrest, will be the country's biggest flotation since December 2013, when True Corp PCL, Thailand's largest full-service telecoms company, listed a fund housing its telecoms assets in a $1.8 billion deal.
Jasmine shares surged more than 5 percent to a seven-week high of 8 baht on Wednesday on expectation that the company will book a gain from the asset sale. The offering is expected to launch early next month, analysts said.
The fund is expected to worth up to 58 billion baht ($1.8 billion), with Jasmine planning to retain 33.33 percent for three years after the deal, the company said in a statement.
Jasmine is an integrated telecoms service provider with its broadband business accounting for 90 percent of revenue. It will transfer its fibre optic cable assets to the fund and use the proceeds of the share sale to expand its broadband business, according to a regulatory filing.
The fund is expected to offer a yield, which includes dividend and return from investment, of between 8.6 percent and 9.0 percent for 2015, the filing said.
Thailand's broadband internet market is expected to post strong growth over the next few years, given the current penetration rate remains low at 24.6 percent of the population.