reader Posted June 24 Posted June 24 From The Nation Looking back at the biggest news in the Thai capital market over the past year, the colossal fraud at Stark Corporation Public Co Ltd undoubtedly stands out, causing alarm among stock market participants. This company once had a valuation as high as 60 billion baht and was even included in the SET100 index, which lists the top 100 largest companies in the Thai stock market. Stark borrowed huge sums of money from banks and bondholders, resulting in damages amounting to tens of billions of baht to the lenders. The grand Stark fraud began when Phelps Dodge, an American electrical wire manufacturer, decided to sell its troubled Thai business. The buyer was Vanarat Tangkaravakun, the eldest heir of the TOA paint empire, for approximately 3 billion baht. However, the deeper aspects of acquiring the electrical wire manufacturing business involved a key aide, Chanin Yensudchai, who masterminded the deal. Chanin, a former executive of Phyathai Hospital, had experience in business acquisitions and assisted Vanarat in strategising the business takeover. Phelps Dodge's Thai operations had been plagued by losses, but surprisingly, in just a few years after Vanarat’s acquisition, the company was in the black. By 2019, Vanarat decided to list Phelps Dodge on the Thai stock market, not through a typical IPO but through a process called reverse takeover, also known as “backdoor listing”. continues at https://www.nationthailand.com/business/trading-investment/40039046 vinapu and TMax 1 1 Quote
