The range for Thailand Future Fund's (TFF) IPO price, allotment and expected returns are poised to be announced in mid-October after receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
Book building, a process where an underwriter attempts to determine the price to place an IPO based on demand from institutional investors, is expected to be completed in mid-October, said Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) governor Suchart Chonsakpipat.
Once the process is completed, the TFF will begin trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, which is projected to begin next month, he said.
Mr Suchart said the TFF is expected to generate around 2.2 billion baht in revenue for the Exat next year, or 45% of total revenue from the two expressway projects -- the Chalong Rat Expressway and Burapha Withi Expressway.
Revenue for these two expressways has grown by around 5% per year, he said.
The expressways have a combined length of 83.2 kilometres and revenue is projected to continue rising because they are core expressways linked with the Eastern Economic Corridor.
From September 2015 to September 2017, the two expressways had average combined traffic of 369,464 car units per day, according to Exat.
Total revenue for both expressways was logged at 4.67 billion baht for fiscal 2017 and 3.59 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, ending in June.
Exat project revenue will increase over the coming years as the number of car users is expected to continue rising, said Mr Suchart.
Exat will continue to supervise and manage the Chalong Rat Expressway and Burapha Withi Expressway, he said.
After receiving funds from the IPO, Exat will use them to finance construction of the expressway linking Rama III Road-Dao Khanong and the Western Outer Ring Road, worth 30.4 billion baht, and the third stage of the long-delayed northern expressway linking the Kasetsart intersection and Nawamin Road, also known as the N2 section, worth 14.4 billion baht.
"The TFF domestic roadshow and overseas roadshow have received a lot of interest as investors have expressed confidence in investing in the fund and they are waiting for the IPO allotment period," Mr Suchart said.
Regarding the Supreme Court's ruling on Sept 21 ordering Exat to pay compensation worth 1.8 billion baht plus interest to Northern Expressway (NECL), a subsidiary of Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc (BEM), for failing to make sufficient revenue under the Bang Pa-in-Pak Kret Expressway agreement, Exat forwarded the case for cabinet consideration on Tuesday with hopes that the government will consider compensating Exat for the payment, said Mr Suchart.
The compensation process will take around 90 days to complete, he said.
"This project occurred under the previous government, so it is expected the incumbent government will discuss the matter with us next month," said Mr Suchart.
The court's decision is associated with the construction and operation of Exat's Don Mueang Tollway linking the National Memorial and Rangsit, which NECL claims to be a conflict of interest with its Bang Pa-in-Pak Kret Expressway, where terms and conditions state the expressway is a non-competitive operation.
.png?w=600)
