Somchai Sirilertpanich, Syntec vice chairman, said yesterday his company would make a loss on its investment if it were to sell BMCL shares at less than Bt1.52 apiece. Syntec currently holds about 5 per cent of BMCL's stock.

"The company's board of directors expects a return from all projects we invest in. If the IPO of BMCL is set higher than Bt1.52 per share, we will sell our shares. But if it is set lower than such a price, the board of directors insists we definitely won't sell our shares," Somchai said.

He said Syntec had earlier informed its shareholders at a meeting that it would not sell BMCL shares for less than Bt1.52 each. If the price is too low, the company plans to wait and sell them in the market later, when the price is expected to exceed what Syntec bought them for. Exactly when to sell will depend on market conditions, he said.

In addition, selling BMCL shares at anything less than cost price would lead to trouble with Syntec's retail investors, as the investment in BMCL was intended only for profit-making purposes.

Syntec stock peaked at Bt0.72 per share on August 9 last year, after moving down to Bt0.51 on August 1. Syntec yesterday closed at Bt0.59 per share, down 3.28 per cent on the day. BMCL plans to launch a much-delayed IPO in the middle of next month, amid improved market sentiment, the financial adviser overseeing the deal said yesterday.

The company plans to sell 2.76 billion shares - 1.32 billion new and 1.44 billion existing shares.

Reports in the local media had previously quoted an underwriter source as saying the IPO price would be about Bt1.30 a share, below the expectations of some of BMCL's shareholders, including Natural Park Plc.

At that price, the IPO would be expected to raise Bt3.59 billion.

The IPO plan has encountered several delays since 2002, due partly to delays in construction of the subway system and poor stock market sentiment.

The company revived the plan earlier this year and had expected to sell its shares in the first quarter. It later decided to postpone the move due to the ongoing political crisis in the country.

Natural Park said earlier it was unlikely to be able to sell its BMCL shares via the upcoming IPO as previously planned, because its shareholders had demanded the stock not be sold for less than Bt1.52.

Natural Park then decided to negotiate with Mahasiri Siam - a shareholder in BMCL and major shareholder in Ch Karnchang - for the latter to purchase 245.86 million of its BMCL shares at the IPO price after the subscription period, it said.