Nusasiri Plc (Nusa) is pressing ahead with its plan to acquire the additional 26.65% of Wind Energy Holding (WEH) for 11.7 billion baht, transforming itself from a property company to an energy business operator through a backdoor listing of WEH.
In a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Thursday, Nusa chairman Visanu Thepcharoen said the company's board of directors approved a purchase of ordinary shares of no more than 29 million shares or 26.65% of registered and paid-up shares of WEH from Thana Power One Co (TONE) at 405 baht each.
The total transaction cost thus does not exceed 11.7 billion baht. Nusa already acquired 7.12% of WEH in 2022.
The method of the share swap of WEH, however, has been changed from the normal method to a backdoor listing due to a recommendation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the SET.
"The board approved proceeding with the order from the SEC and the SET to change the stock swap with WEH to a type of backdoor listing when the company completes all preparations according to the SET's criteria and the opinion from the independent financial advisor [IFA]," he said in the filing.
The company's board saw that it would be beneficial to the company and its shareholders, with limited impact on the existing shareholders.
Siriya Thepcharoen, deputy chief executive of Nusa, said the company expects to get an opinion from the IFA within this week before the share-swap plan seeks the approval of the shareholders in the next stage.
It would take about 5-6 months for Nusa to consolidate its operation with WEH, Thailand's leading wind power developer, she added.
"After the backdoor listing, we will continue to operate without interruption but business focus would be shifted to energy, representing 40-50% of our portfolio, followed by the property business," Ms Siriya said, adding that Nusa currently has assets in the property business worth about 10 billion baht.