Thai Petrochemical Industry is expected to sell its 30 per cent stake in Thailand cement maker TPI Polene by auction next week in a bid to raise US$250m, a member of TPI’s debt administration said on Thursday.
The stake sale is part of a US$2.7bn debt restructuring plan of TPI, the country’s largest corporate defaulter.
"The auction of TPIP shares will probably be next week," Siri Jirapongphan, a member of the government-appointed management team, told Reuters.
A financial adviser to handle the sale would be selected in one or two days, Siri said without elaborating.
On Tuesday, a management team source said the offer price for the 249m shares should not be lower than 40 baht (US$0.99) 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.
