Share price of newly SET-listed Asset World Corp Plc (AWC), a property arm of billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, edged up slightly during its first trading day for what is considered the country’s biggest IPO of an individual company.
AWC shares closed at 6.05 baht per share, up marginally from its IPO price of 6 baht.
That gave the company a market value of 187 billion baht ($6.2 billion), according to Bloomberg.
On Sept 27, it was reported that AWC raised 48 billion baht in what appeared to be the largest IPO of an individual company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Reuters reported.
Of the planned 8 billion IPO shares, 53% was allotted to foreign investors and 47% to domestic investors, according to chief executive Wallapa Traisorat.
Raised funds will be used to expand the company’s hotel and other commercial property projects.
AWC’s hotel business accounts for 61% of revenue, with 21.15% coming from offices and 17.8% from its retail unit.
Mr Charoen, whose business empire ranges from beer and spirits to property and retail, ranks fourth with $16.2 billion in Forbes’ Thailand’s top 50 richest list this year, coming behind the Chearavanont family, the Chirathivat family and Red Bull owner Chalerm Yoovidhya.
The recent move to buy Starbucks’ Thailand operations also extends Mr Charoen’s strategy of increasing his stake extensively in the beverage portfolio, Bloomberg reported.
