Thai Oil Plc (TOP), Thailand's largest oil refinery by capacity, is seeking approval from its shareholders for a fundraising plan to finance the US$5 billion development of its petrochemical production facility in Indonesia, part of a move to produce value-added products in this industry.
The shareholders are scheduled to meet in Bangkok on April 7 for the annual meeting and for talks on an increase in registered capital and the sale of a 10.78% share, worth 22.35 billion baht, in Global Power Synergy Plc (GPSC).
TOP currently holds a 20.78% stake in GPSC, the power generation arm of national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc.
The fundraising is part of TOP's Energy Transition Plan, said Wirat Uanarumit, president and chief executive of TOP.
The plan is aimed at adding value to oil, petrochemical products and electricity in order to pave the way for rapid business growth in the future, Mr Wirat said.
The TOP board earlier approved the increase of registered capital by 2.75 billion baht to 23.15 billion through a public offering scheme.
The company plans to sell a maximum of 239.23 million shares to existing shareholders and offer 35.88 million shares under an over-allotment scheme.
The board also approved the sale of shares in GPSC to PTT Plc.
The petrochemical production facility, PT Chandra Asri Perkasa (Unit 2), has a plan to increase capacity of petrochemical crackers to 8 million tonnes a year, up from 4.2 million tonnes.
Construction is slated to begin this year, with commercial operation scheduled to start in 2026.
The facility is operated by PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP), Indonesia's largest petrochemical producer.
TOP acquired a 15.38% share in CAP at a cost of $1.18 billion in July last year.
According to TOP, the two sources of funding are in line with its financial restructuring to increase financial capability.