Singapore: JP Morgan supports ThaiBev stock after IPO

J.P. Morgan bought nearly 20 million shares in Thai Beverage to stabilise the firm's stock price, the investment bank said June 07, more than one week after the Thai firm's disappointing initial public offering, Reuters communicated June 07.

J.P. Morgan, which managed the S$1.37 billion ($865 million) stock market listing together with Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch, said in a statement it bought 19.7 million shares at between S$0.255 and S$0.26 each.

The stock closed 1.9 percent lower at S$0.26 after hitting a record-low of S$0.25 earlier in the session, nearly 11 percent below its IPO issue price of S$0.28, while Singapore's Straits Times Index hit its lowest level in five months and ended the day 1.45 percent lower.

ThaiBev stock fell more than 7 percent below its issue price on its debut on May 30 as cautious investors questioned the value of Singapore's biggest share offering in more than a decade amid turmoil in global financial markets.

ThaiBev's IPO was the city-state's biggest since Singapore Telecommunications' S$4.2 billion offer in 1993.

Thailand's largest brewer and distiller, known for its Chang Beer and Mekhong whisky, sought a Singapore listing for 20 percent of the firm after failed attempts to go public at home, where it faced wrangling over whether alcohol firms were allowed to list.

It sold a total of 4.89 billion shares near the low end of the S$0.26 to S$0.36 indicative price range.

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