The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has launched a probe into the movements of Jasmine International Plc's share and warrant prices after JAS's largest shareholder made a surprising tender offer.
It is normal for the exchange to monitor all listed companies whose prices move irregularly, said SET president Kesara Manchusree.
If any anomalies are detected, the SET will forward the information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an in-depth investigation, she said.
Pete Bodharamik, Jasmine's chief executive and biggest shareholder, on Monday announced the tender offer for 4.09 billion shares and 2.73 billion units of warrant-3 (W3) that he does not already own in a deal worth up to 40 billion baht. The offer price has been set at 7.25 baht for each share and 3.68 baht per unit of W3.
Even though he explained in the SET filing that the tender offer is aimed at creating better management, it is largely believed that his buyout attempt is an attempt to pave a way for selling Jasmine's fixed-line broadband business to others, and such speculation has propelled JAS share and W3 prices to outpace the offer prices.
JAS shares closed yesterday at 7.30 baht, down 10 satang, in trade worth 873.9 million baht. Units of JAS W3 closed at 3.70 baht, down four satang, in trade worth 288.7 million baht.
JAS's share price has surged nearly 10% from last week's close of 6.65 baht, while the W3 price shot up 15%.
Mrs Kesara said JAS's tender offer does not breach regulations that restrict each investor to make the tender offer once a year in each company, as the latest attempt has been offered by Mr Pete, while the recent share buyback was done by the company.
Jasmine in early March stunned the market by announcing a 6-billion-baht share buyback. The company at that time had its ability to secure credit of 76 billion baht to pay for a 900-megahertz spectrum licence questioned, and it then failed to secure a bank guarantee to pay for the licence.
Mr Pete yesterday announced a tender offer for the entire 706.5 million shares of Jasmine Telecom Systems Plc (JTS) at a price of 1.50 baht to comply with the chain principle rule after his shareholding in JTS's parent firm, Jasmine, exceeded 50%.
The tender offer was below JTS's closing price by 1.7% on Monday. The stock was suspended from trading ahead of the market open on Tuesday, pending Mr Pete's tender offer announcement.
Separately, Mrs Kesara called the amended Securities and Exchange Act a boon to investors and the overall stock market because it clarifies the scope of information that listed companies can disclose and has created stricter penalties for unfair trading practices.