Minor cuts share offering price in Bt25bn capital raising plan
Minor International Plc (MINT) has cut the ask price in its offering of 563,293,276 new shares for existing shareholders from Bt18.9 to Bt17.5 per share, as part of plans to raise Bt25 billion in capital.
The cut rewards shareholders who have stayed loyal amid the volatile market environment, said the hospitality, restaurant and lifestyle multinational.
The share payment period runs from July 17 to 23 via Bangkok Bank. After payment, shareholders can subscribe for the shares at www.bualuang.co.th or at Bualuang Securities headquarters on Silom Road. In addition, Minor will allocate MINT-W7 warrants to shareholders at the ratio of 22 ordinary shares per one warrant at no offering price. The term of the warrants will be three years with an exercise price of Bt21.60.
Minor said it is confident that shareholders will fully support the rights offering.
MINT founder and chairman William E Heinecke has committed to subscribing for his full entitlement of shares, the company said.
As the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, MINT has reopened its hotels, restaurants, and lifestyle businesses both in Thailand and overseas. It sees positive signs of recovery, aided by government stimulus packages including the “We Travel Together” campaign to revitalise domestic tourism.
Nevertheless, MINT has launched a plan to raise Bt25 billion in capital as “a pro-active and comprehensive approach”. The plan also features an offering of perpetual bonds worth about Bt10 billion. The measures are aimed at strengthening MINT’s balance sheet during uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic, without the need for more capital increases over the next two years. MINT said its interest-bearing debt-to-equity ratio is expected to fall to its internal policy of 1.3x by the end of 2020, from 1.6x at the end of the first quarter this year.
“I believe the offering price of Bt17.50 per share is very attractive,” Pichet Sithi-Amnuai, president of Bualuang Securities, MINT’s financial adviser, said. “This price represents a 14.6 per cent discount from the volume-weighted average price of the company’s shares during the prior eight consecutive trading days.”
