Glow affirms several suitors
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Glow affirms several suitors

Firm unaware of details in reports

A section of Glow Energy's power plant in Rayong province. Barred by regulators of divesting to the PTT family, Glow has set out a new course, starting with a round of acquisitions. (Photo provided)
A section of Glow Energy's power plant in Rayong province. Barred by regulators of divesting to the PTT family, Glow has set out a new course, starting with a round of acquisitions. (Photo provided)

SET-listed Glow Energy Plc has confirmed several investor groups are keen to acquire French giant Engie SA's majority stake in the company.

"Glow would like to clarify that our reference shareholder has informed us there have recently been multiple expressions of interest for the stake they hold in Glow", but the company is not aware of any details as stated in local media reports, Glow said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

According to reports, I Squared Capital, an infrastructure-focused private equity firm, proposed to acquire the 69.1% stake from Engie, but at a lower price than what Global Power Synergy Plc (GPSC) once offered.

Glow's investor relations officer said he had no additional comments from the company's filing.

In June, PTT Plc's power-generating unit GPSC agreed to purchase the entire stake held by Engie and the remaining 30.89% from retail investors in a deal valued at 139 billion baht.

But the deal collapsed after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ruled that takeover bid breached the 2007 Energy Industry Act's standard for a monopoly because the deal would give GPSC control of the largest market share of private power purchase agreements (PPPAs) at Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province.

The energy regulator last week dismissed GPSC's appeal to buy Glow's stake.

ERC chairman Samerjai Suksumek has said while Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate has the state-run Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to feed power to end-users, it cannot compete with GPSC, which is a profit-oriented firm.

If the deal had gone through, GPSC would have grabbed an 80% share of PPPAs in the Map Ta Phut area and ranked as the fourth largest power producer in the country with 4.835 gigawatts.

GPSC now controls 20% of PPPAs in the country's largest industrial estate, while Glow has 60% and PEA 20%.

Glow operates 10 coal and gas-fired plants in the Map Ta Phut area.

According to Engie's two-year plan, it wants to sell off coal, upstream oil and gas businesses, shifting focus to renewable energy, power grids and energy services.

Didier Holleaux, senior vice-president of Engie, was recently quoted by Reuters as saying the company would have to look for others to buy its stake in Glow.

GLOW shares closed Tuesday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 87 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 193 million baht.

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