Thailand’s BTS Group Holdings hopes to raise $2.1bn in an IPO of its Skytrain business which, if successful, will be Asia’s biggest IPO this year and the largest ever in Thailand.
The Skytrain launched in 1999 and now spans 23.5km, carrying 530,000 passengers each day.Â
The Thai government has said it plans to expand rail coverage in greater Bangkok to 508km by 2029, from 79.5km now.
The firm to be listed, called BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund (BTSGIF), will purchase a stream of Skytrain transit-fare revenue from BTS, providing trust unit-holders with a steady dividend payout, according to news portal, InfraPPP.
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BTS said it hopes to use the proceeds from the IPO to finance new mass-transit projects.
The operator filed its IPO prospectus to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 15 March.
The company says it has already received commitments from 22 investors, including Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Schroder Investment Management, and the Thai unit of French insurer AXA Insurance.
It says that together these investors will buy $800m worth of shares, or 38% of the IPO.
BTS aims to list in mid-April.
