Lehman to sell Ascon stake

Written by changthai11 on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

DARANA CHUDASRI

Lehman Brothers intends to divest its 7% stake in Ascon Construction, according to Pattanapong Tanumathaya, the chief executive officer of the SET-listed contractor.

Mr Pattanapong was contacted by an agent of the bankrupt Wall Street investment bank about selling its 22.5 million shares in the company.

He said he would have first right to repurchase the shares as a major shareholder, and added that the transaction would not affect Ascon’s trading price.

The transaction price is being negotiated with a deal likely by year-end.

Lehman paid 9.6 baht per share for its investment a year ago. Ascon closed yesterday at 4.68 baht, down four satang, in thin trade worth 2.68 million baht.

Mr Pattanapong said he expected to spend up to 80 million baht for the transaction, including 7.5 million on warrants. The shareholdings of Mr Pattanapong and his allies would increase to more than 30% following the deal.

He said Ascon would eventually look to bring in new strategic foreign partners to replace Lehman Brothers.

Mr Pattanapong said the company could seek new investors from the Middle East, including its partners in a 16-billion-baht residential construction project in Dubai.