Political uncertainty halts BTS talks with partners
Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) has decided to postpone negotiations with its new strategic partners - which will hold about an 80-per-cent stake in the Skytrain firm - due mainly to political uncertainty.
A business-rehabilitation plan, however, is expected to be completed next month or in early May, in accordance with the 180-day time frame due in June as required by the court, BTS chief executive Keeree Kanjanapas was quoted by Thai-language Infoquest News Agency as saying. "The investment atmosphere is not quite good at the moment, so the potential partners and I decided to stop the negotiations to wait for a clearer situation. We are waiting for fresh funds from the new partners and we reached initial agreement with them, but we decided to suspend negotiations," he said. He said there were at least 10 new partners who would inject about Bt600 million into the company in return for an 80-per-cent stake in Bangkok's elevated-trained operator. Four are expected to be major partners. Under the business-rehabilitation plan, almost all proceeds arising from the new partners will be used to repay debts, while creditors will hold 10 per cent in BTS through a debt-into-equity swap. The company's debts will be reduced from Bt68 billion to Bt10 billion after the rehabilitation plan is completed, and its interest burden will decline from Bt7 million to Bt8 million a day to Bt2 million to Bt3 million. The Central Bankruptcy Court will declare that the company solvent again in July, and the Skytrain operator will be able to seek a listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) later. BTS earlier announced the company would list on the SET in this year's third quarter. Regarding progress in buying 12 new trains to accommodate growing passenger demand, Keeree believes the company will reach a decision about which trains to buy in the middle of next month. The process will take one-and-a-half to two years after technical negotiations are finalised - the same period as construction of the Onnuj to Baring extension is completed, he said. Anat Arbhabhirama, an adviser to the BTS board, said the company had proposed a revenue-sharing scheme with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for the Taksin extension route based on distance. "We don't know yet what is BMA's decision," he said. He estimated company revenues this year would rise 10 per cent year on year now that it hiked the fares. The company earns about Bt8 million per day in revenues, while the daily average number of passengers per trip will grow 4.88 per cent, from 410,000 to 430,000.
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