Court finds conflicts of interest in Egat's IPO
A review on the controversial plans to privatise the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand has shown conflicts of interest, senior judge Charan Hathagam said on Monday.
He was speaking after the Supreme Administrative Court said it will deliver a ruling on Egat's privatisation on Thursday.
Charan said the review on Monday found the conflicts of interest among the national committee on state enterprise privatisation, Egat Board, and Egat's panel on public hearing, Charan told reporters.
"The court's opinion is that Egat's privatization benefits only a certain group of people, particularly politicians," he said.
On Thursday, the Court will hand down its final ruling on whether to allow Egat to be listed on the stock market, a court official said.
Egat's initial public offering (IPO) was initially scheduled for November, in what would have been Thailand's biggest listing.
But the same court ordered suspending the planned sale of 16 per cent of stock, or 1.2 billion shares, worth an estimated Bt34 billion following complaints from consumer groups.
Consumer protection activists have argued the privatization of the energy giant with annual revenue topping nearly Bt280 billion would lead to an increase in electricity prices.
The Nation/Agence France Presse
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