Thailand's Ananda Development starts IPO roadshow

The Thai property developer, which has attracted a number of anchor orders, is seeking to raise up to $213 million through the offering.
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Bangkok: Ananda's home market since its foundation in 1999
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<div style="text-align: left;"> Bangkok: Ananda's home market since its foundation in 1999 </div>

Ananda Development kicked off the international roadshow for its initial public offering yesterday, aiming to raise between Bt5.6 billion and Bt6.5 billion ($182.4 million to $212.8 million). The listing is scheduled for early December.

The deal drew a very positive response from investors and secured a number of anchor orders from international investors, a source said. After the domestic roadshow ran last week, the international roadshow is expected to continue until November 21.

The latest IPO comes as the Thai stock market has been performing strongly, while IPO activity in the country has picked up dramatically.

There have been 17 IPOs so far this year in Thailand, which have raised a combined $1.4 billion — the second-highest year-to-date level on record after the $1.7 billion raised at this point in 2004, according to Dealogic, whose records started in 1995. That compares with nine deals that raised a total of $263 million during the same period in 2011.

The benchmark SET Index, which rose 0.3% yesterday, is up about 26% since the start of the year, compared with a 16% gain in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.

Ananda, which is owned by the founder and his family, plans to sell 1.3 billion new shares for a price ranging between Bt4.2 and Bt4.9 each, according to a term sheet. The offering size represents about 40% of the enlarged share capital.

Of the deal, 60% is intended for international institutional investors, while the remaining 30% is for domestic institutions and 10% for domestic retail investors.

Ananda was founded in 1999 by Chanond Ruangkritya, whose family has been in the real estate business in Thailand far more than 20 years, according to the company’s website.

It plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund investments, acquisitions and new projects, to repay existing bank loans and debts, and as well as working capital.

The price range values Ananda at a 2013 price-to-earnings ratio of between 7.83 times and 9.13 times, according to the source. Although there are no directly comparable companies, investors are likely looking at other listed Thai developers such as LPN Development, Asian Property Development and Supalai.

For reference, LPN Development trades at a 2013 P/E of 9.89 times, while Asian Property Development stands at 8.76 times and Supalai trades at 8.93 times, according to Bloomberg data.

Ananda focuses on residential housing and, according to the source, investors like its strategy of building condominiums close to train stations in Bangkok. It tends to start construction immediately after the land has been acquired, resulting in a quick turnaround of its projects and less reliance on bank borrowings.

The deal is expected to price on November 26 and the listing is scheduled for December 7. The retail offering is expected to start from November 28 and end on November 30.

Barclays is the sole global coordinator for the deal and an international bookrunner together with CIMB. The domestic joint bookrunners are Bualuang Securities and KT Zmico Securities.

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