• 
• 

Published on November 3, 2007

The company expects to complete the transaction next month after Apex Securities completes the reduction of its registered capital to 25 per cent of the current level or Bt120 million, Adkinson Securities CEO Sadawut Taechaubol said yesterday.

"The company signed a share purchase and sale agreement with Merrill Lynch Holdings (Mauritius) to sell all the shares of Apex held by the company for Bt180 million plus the value of the net liquid assets at the closing date (expected to be approximately Bt139 million). Therefore the total sales price would be approximately Bt319 million," he said.

Merrill Lynch acquired a 51-per-cent stake in Phatra Securities in 1998 and sold out the stake to Phatra Securities' current executives in July 2003. Despite the pull-out, Merrill Lynch has remained in an alliance with Phatra Securities until now.

Adkinson Securities expects to realise gains from the share sale late this year at the earliest, which would boost its fourth-quarter earnings and help its yearly earnings turn around into profit from a net loss of Bt683.56 million in the previous year, said Sadawut.

The company might resume paying dividends to shareholders for the 2007 financial results, he added.

The broker has targeted a 3.5-per-cent in market share next year, against the current 2.5-2.8 per cent. Retail investors account for 90 per cent of the company's customers.

It is negotiating for two or three potential alliances for investment banking business, he said.

Phatra Securities said in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday that Merrill Lynch was committed to continuing its business alliance and research cooperation with the company.

"We have been informed that the acquisition of Apex Securities will allow Merrill Lynch to enhance its fixed income, currencies and commodities business in Thailand and complement its existing Thai franchise, and thus will not impact any equity business cooperation under the 'exclusive partnership' arrangement between the company and Merrill Lynch," it said.

An analyst at Ayudhya Securities said the acquisition in Apex Securities by Merrill Lynch could affect Phatra as the US-based broker might trade stocks through its own company in the future.

However, Merrill Lynch is subject to giving at least six months' notice before it can do so.

Ayudhya Securities forecasts that Phatra will post a net profit of Bt490 million this year, down significantly from Bt719 million last year, due to the absence of large initial public offerings.

It estimates that Phatra's 2008 earnings will rebound to Bt530 million on anticipation that the bullish stock market will stimulate big IPO deals.

The Nation