Thai Kim Eng to advise on TPI Polene share sale

Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) has been chosen to advise Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) on selling its 30 per cent stake in cement maker TPI Polene, TPI’s debt administrator said.

Kim Eng would propose details of an auction of the shares due in the last week of June, Trithip Sivakriskul, a member of TPI’s government-appointed management team, told Reuters.

TPI , the country’s largest corporate defaulter which is restructuring US$2.7bn of debt, plans to raise US$250m from the auction.  A senior Kim Eng executive said there was no guarantee of the selling price.

Last week, a management team source said the offer price for the 249m shares should not be lower than 40 baht each and the proceeds would be used to repay TPI debt.

TPI Polene, Thailand’s number three cement maker, has been a target of global cement makers. First it negotiated selling a majority stake to Mexico’s Cemex, then did a deal with rival Siam City Cement , which is 32 per cent owned by Switzerland’s Holcim. But the deals were cancelled later.