Thailand's Largest IPO of 2018 Climbs as Much as 3% in Debut

(Bloomberg) -- The Thailand Future Fund, an infrastructure fund put together by the military government, jumped in its trading debut in Bangkok.

• The fund reached 10.30 baht per unit in early trading, a climb of 3 percent from the offering price of 10 baht per unit, exceeding the advance in the benchmark SET index

Key Insights

• The fund raised 44.7 billion baht ($1.3 billion) in Thailand’s biggest initial public offering of 2018, part of about $2 billion raised in first-time share sales in the country in October alone, despite the rout in emerging-market equities
• The fund will receive toll revenue from two existing highways and use the money it’s raised to finance other infrastructure projects
• The long-delayed listing is a key element of the Thai military government’s push to accelerate infrastructure projects and bolster investment in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy
• Officials are mulling whether to set up another infrastructure fund, this time for telecom assets, in 2019
• "This fund will be the platform for the government to raise money for future large infrastructure projects without destabilizing public debt," Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said in a briefing