General Electric has sold a 7.6% stake in Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) to institutional investors for 14.65 billion baht.
GE raised about $462 million from the shares sale, said a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the information is not public.
Including brokerage fees, the shares were sold at 31.46 baht each, the person said. GE Capital is reviewing options for its remaining 25%, the company said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday.
A total of 468.135 million shares were sold for the total sum of 14.65 billion baht.
In a report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, BAY advised that GE Group have arranged for the sale of approximately 7.6% of its shares in the Bank of Ayudhya in block trades on the SET through an underwriting undertaken by Morgan Stanley.
GE Group also advised that it will not sell further shares in the bank for a period of 180 days except for any strategic sale of substantially all of GE Group's shares in the bank or as may be agreed with Morgan Stanley.
Shares of the Thai lender are headed for their biggest loss in a year following the sale, which valued the shares at a 5.4% discount to Tuesday's closing price at 33.25 baht apiece.
BAY's profit may more than double by 2014 on demand for car and home loans, according to Citigroup Inc.
The offering price disappointed investors who expected the price to be much higher with valuations comparable to the recent share sales of Thai lenders, Rattana Leenutaphong, an analyst at IV Global Securities Plc in Bangkok, said by phone. There is also uncertainty and confusion on what GE's next move will be on the remaining 25% stake.
Potential buyers for a stake in the Bangkok-based bank include Malayan Banking Bhd., Malaysias largest lender, people with knowledge of the matter had said on Sept. 12. The acquirers of the stake were not disclosed on Wednesday.
Bank of Ayudhya share prices dropped as much as 8.3%, heading for their biggest decline since Sept 26, 2011, before trading down 7.5% to close at 30.75 baht, or a drop by 2.50 baht, in total trade of 9.46 billion baht.
BAY was traded at a high of 37 baht apiece last Wednesday (Sept 19) after a report that GE had hired Morgan Stanley to review its 33% stake in BAY. The share price closed on that day at 36.50 baht but it has continued dropping since Sept 20.
The price, at about 1.7 times book value, is fair to the buyer, Ms Rattana said. It gives the buyer room to make some profit.
Formed in 1945 and listed on the local stock exchange in 1977, Bank of Ayudhya has counted GE as its top shareholder since 2007, when the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company acquired a 29 percent stake, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The U.S. firm boosted its stake to 33 percent later that year.
That investment preceded at least eight takeovers by the Thai bank, including purchases of businesses from GE, American International Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc, the data show. Those deals turned Bank of Ayudhya into Thailand's top or second-ranked provider of credit cards, car loans and personal finance, bank filings show.