Shareholding structure of DTAC revamped

The changes were communicated to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday and made public in a Telenor Asia statement issued yesterday.
Under the new structure, the Bencharongkul family, which founded DTAC, will own about 13.21 per cent in Thai Telco Holdings via three newly established firms – BCH Holdings, BCTN Innovation and BCTN Holding – and will also indirectly own 2 per cent of DTAC, one analyst said.
Under the new structure, the combined indirect and direct control of Telenor in DTAC has been reduced to 61.99 per cent from the previous 65.45 per cent, the analyst said.
The head of Telenor Asia, Sigve Brekke, yesterday denied speculation that no payment was involved in the restructuring, but he declined to specify the value.
BCH Holdings was established in April, while BCTN Innovation and BCTN Holdings were set up last month.
According to yesterday’s Telenor Asia statement, Thai Telco Holding announced the restructuring of the company’s shareholding structure.
Under the new structure, the newly set-up investment company – majority owned by Bencharongkul family – will invest in an entity that holds 51 per cent of Thai Telco Holding, while Telenor Group continues to own 49 per cent directly.
“The Bencharongkul family has made the investment decision based on a strong belief in the market potential of the mobile industry and in the effectiveness and global experience of the management team of DTAC,” the statement said.
Telenor Asia owns an unchanged 42.62 per cent of DTAC, while Thai Telco owns 22.42 per cent, also unchanged. Previously the parent company, Norway’s Telenor, owned 49 per cent of Thai Telco, while Borelo owned 31.2 per cent and DTAC founder Boonchai Bencharongkul owned 9.9 per cent. DTAC has posted second-quarter revenue of Bt21.6 billion, up 9.8 per cent year on year. Net profit for the period amounted to Bt2.8 billion, down 6.5 per cent year on year.