Hunton Assists Asia Biomass Public Company Ltd on THB 135 million IPO Offering

Hunton & Williams (Thailand) Limited assisted Asia Biomass Public Company Limited (SET:ABM), Thailand’s largest biomass feedstock producer, in the issuance and listing of 75 million newly issued shares equivalent to 25 per cent of its total registered capital on the Market of Alternative Investment (MAI). The entire newly issued shares were allocated to the general public via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at THB 1.80 each and THB 135 million in total, from February 19 to 21, 2018. The first day of trading was February 27, 2018.

ABM supplies a variety of biomass fuels such as palm kernel shells, woodchips, wood shavings, sawdust, wood dust and biomass pellets, etc. to customers that use biomass fuel in the production process including industrial plants, power production plants, wood product manufacturers, and biomass suppliers domestically and in Korea and Japan. The company has eight warehouses, four in Thailand and the other four in Malaysia and Indonesia. Transportation services are carried out by its subsidiary’s trucks to ensure efficient logistics.

The fund raised will help ABM acquire more land to increase its capacity to stock palm shells in Indonesia and Malaysia. Some of the proceeds will go toward the joint venture with Fancywood Industries PLC (SET:FANCY), the largest manufacturer of rubber wood furniture in Thailand, to establish a biomass pellet factory in Surat Thani province, Thailand.

As issuer’s counsel, the Hunton team counseled ABM in relation to the IPO offering process pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Public Limited Company Act as well as those of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The team was led by counsel Yaowarote Klinboon, and associates Teerasak Petchpaibool and Phatamol Phisitbuntoon.

The transaction also included Sage Capital Limited as issuer’s financial advisor and KGI Securities (Thailand) PLC as the lead underwriter.