Saturday, August 20, 2011

Nok Air management add 25% stake


Nok Air's senior management is gaining greater control over the budget carrier after striking a 412.5-million-baht deal to acquire shares held by three stakeholders.
Nok Air Management Co (NAM), a newly established company owned by five top executives of Nok Air led by chief executive Patee Sarasin and chief operating officer Piya Yodmani, reached an agreement to acquire a 25% interest in Nok Air at 33 baht a share.
The three sellers are Dhipaya Insurance Plc (10%), the Government Pension Fund (10%) and Thailand Prosperity Fund managed by ING Funds (Thailand) Co (5%).
The sale, which was agreed to by all nine shareholding groups in Nok Air including Thai Airways International (THAI), will allow Nok Air management greater control of operations and its future.
"After controlling operations for Nok Air for seven years, we [the management] want to have more say in determining [the airline's] destiny in an increasingly hostile operating environment," said Mr Patee.
Having fewer shareholders will streamline the approval process, he added.
NAM is equally owned by the five senior management members of Nok Air, though Mr Patee already had a 5% ownership.
Executives of Dhipaya and the GPF said the price was a good one, while Mr Patee said it represented the airline's current value.
They added that THAI, which earlier expressed interest in raising its stake in Nok Air to 49% from 39%, did not make an offer.
THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand reiterated yesterday that the flag carrier remained keen to acquire another 10% in Nok Air, specifically from state-controlled Krung Thai Bank (KTB).
THAI's share bid in January of this year, part of the flag carrier's attempt to bring Nok Air more closely under its wing, was rejected as KTB held out for 44 baht per share while THAI proposed 30 baht.
THAI has long been unhappy with the budget carrier's "autonomous" style, which it claims at times has conflicted with that of the parent.
This conflict has led THAI to attempt to launch an "ultra low-cost" carrier called Thai Tiger Airways in a joint venture with Singapore's Tiger Airways. However, the Transport Ministry has repeatedly blocked this venture since it was announced a year ago.
Last May, THAI exercised its rights as stipulated in Nok Air's shareholders' agreement to appoint its board member Apiporn Pasawat as Nok Air's new chairman, replacing Vichit Suraphongchai, the executive chairman of Siam Commercial Bank, who wanted to see the budget airline continue to operate independently.

Source:  http://www.bangkokpost.com/

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