After more than five years of delays, Thai Airways finally looks set for a public share offering that will take the government's stake from 93% down to 70%.
Shares are to be traded on the Thai stock exchange by the beginning of December. Thailand's finance ministry planned to sell 100 million existing shares in the carrier while Thai planned to issue 300 million new shares, of which 15 million would be for employees.
"Proceeds generated by the sales will be used as working capital for the Suvarnabhumi Airport investment project, and for upgrading in-flight services ranging from passenger seats to other amenities," says Thai. Suvarnabhumi Airport is under construction outside Bangkok and is due to replace the existing Don Muang as Thailand's main international gateway in 2005.
The Thai government had been talking about a share offering for more than five years. The airline and the government have said that they expect to raise around 15 billion baht ($375 million) from the sale.
Source: Airline Business