Thailand’s richest man picks bad day to debut his flagship firm
Gulf Development combines Sarath Ratanavadi’s business empire – from power to seaports, infrastructure and telecommunication – under one roof
[BANGKOK] Thailand’s richest man may have picked a bad day for his newly forged flagship company, Gulf Development, to begin trading.
The company, created by merging billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi’s Gulf Energy Development and telecoms firm Intouch Holdings, opened with a market value of 736 billion baht (S$28.6 billion) on Thursday (Apr 3). That was 13 per cent below the combined tally of the two companies before they delisted last month. The stock closed at 48.75 baht.
Another way of looking at Thursday’s performance is to compare the stock with the fair value of Gulf Development after the merger, which would be about 48 baht each, according to a Krungsri Securities report. Based on that measure, the stock would be up slightly, according to the brokerage.
Either way, the debut occurred in the wake of the major challenges faced by South-east Asia’s second-largest economy. It came hours after US President Donald Trump announced America’s steepest tariffs in a century – Thailand was hit with 36 per cent – roiling global markets. It also came days after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit Myanmar, which damaged many skyscrapers in Bangkok and is expected to hurt its tourism industry.
The key benchmark SET Index fell 1 per cent on Thursday.
Gulf Development combines Sarath’s business empire – spanning from power to seaports, infrastructure and telecommunication – under one roof, with the idea that the merged entity will be stronger and nimbler to expand in areas such as data centres amid soaring demand from the boom in artificial intelligence.
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The merger combined Gulf Energy with Intouch, a telecoms company set up by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Its businesses include Sarath’s intercity highways, liquefied natural gas terminal and crypto currency trading platform, as well as Intouch’s Advanced Info Service, the nation’s No 2 mobile-phone operator.
It had total assets of 704 billion baht and about 21 billion baht of annual net income in 2024, according to consolidated financial statements published this week.
Gulf Development’s large cash holdings – 35 billion baht – should enable it to expand further as one of the region’s largest infrastructure-and-utility players, according to Morgan Stanley. Its earnings are expected to grow about 20 per cent through 2027, thanks to its power projects, new infrastructure and the data-centre business, according to the bank.
After the combination, Gulf Development plans to invest an additional US$1.75 billion to expand its data centres, and will also be in a better position to grow its energy, telecoms and technology businesses, according to Sarath, who has a net worth of more than US$12 billion, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index.
Tris Rating, a ratings agency, this week assigned an AA- investment-grade credit rating for Gulf Development, citing the newly merged company’s prominent position in the domestic power industry and stable cash flow. That is one level above the A+ rating for Gulf Energy.
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