Amata VN to distribute IPO shares

Amata VN Plc, a subsidiary of SET-listed Amata Corporation, Thailand’s biggest industrial estate developer, will distribute its initial public offering shares next week.

The company plans to offer 166.37 million IPO shares at a par value of 50 satang each.

RHB Securities (Thailand) is the financial adviser, with Siam Commercial Bank as the underwriter.

The IPO price is 7.50 baht, a discount of roughly 25% to fair value.

After the distribution, the company expects its shares to trade on the Stock Exchange of Thailand from Dec 16.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used for expansion of the Amata City Long Tanh Industrial Estate in Dong Nai, Vietnam, east of Ho Chi Minh City, said Amata VN chief executive Somhatai Panichewa.

Amata VN is a holding company involved in industrial estates and related business in Vietnam.

It has done business in Vietnam for nearly 20 years and was the first foreignbased company to invest in industrial estates in the country.

Amata VN developed 4,375 rai for Amata City Bien Hoa Co, near Ho Chi Minh City, of which 80% of the land has been occupied and the rest is expected to be leased within the next four years.

The company has set a sales target of 125 rai a year and expects 25% annual growth.

Amata VN has about 12,000 rai of land in Bien Hoa and Long Tanh.

Among investors in the estates, 48% are Japanese and the rest are from Taiwan, South Korea, the US and Europe.

Ms Somhatai rates investment sentiment in Vietnam as positive at the moment with continued growth among the highest in Asia.

“The f unding from t he I PO will strengthen the company’s financial position, enabling us to expand business to serve growth in the region at a reasonable cost,” she said.

The company is also considering selling factory assets spanning 100,000 square metres to the Amata Summit Growth Freehold and Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (AMATAR).

That process is expected to conclude within a year.