Thailand's Land & Houses' financial arm plans IPO

BANGKOK: The financial arm of Thailand's top home builder Land & Houses Pcl said on Monday, Dec 27 it planned to sell 1.44 billion new shares in an initial public offering (IPO) next year.

The proceeds will be used to strengthen its financial status and for future business expansion, LH Financial Group Pcl said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It gave no date or price for the share sale.

Asia Plus Advisory is financial adviser for the IPO. LH Financial, 42.1% owned by Land & Houses and 26.4% owned by Quality Houses Pcl, owns Land and Houses Retail Bank Pcl (LH Bank).

The bank has 26 branches in Thailand and focuses on retail clients. It planned to increase the number of branches to 42 by the end of next year and to offer a full commercial bank service in 2011, the statement said.

In August, the bank said it was in talks with possible foreign partners.

At the end of September, LH Bank had assets of 59.5 billion baht (RM6.1 billion) with about 40 billion baht in loans. — Reuters