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Published on December 5, 2007

A PAE source said the company was preparing to sell a big lot of around 100 million shares - 17.4 per cent of its paid-up capital - via the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to GPS.

Talks about the share sale will be concluded soon.

Yesterday, the SET said it had ordered PAE to halt trading, saying significant information was circulating concerning the selling of about 100 million shares by major shareholders that might affect the company's shareholder structure and management. The SET has not yet been officially informed of the sale.

Therefore, the SET has temporarily halted trading of the company's securities, effective from yesterday morning's trading session, until it has clarified or disclosed this material information to the exchange.

The source said the Dubai firm would like to be the major shareholder of PAE. However, apart from the big lot of 17 per cent, it is not known how many additional shares GPS would buy.

After sale of the big lot is concluded, PAE will have to hold a board meeting in order to restructure its organisation from construction to oil and gas.

"The Dubai group would like to hold a majority share in PAE, as they want management control. They want to change the business structure, but this is not a back-door listing as it's not under the SET's criteria [for back-door listings]. The company needs only to inform the SET," the source said.

However, SET president Patareeya Benjapholchai said yesterday it was waiting for PAE to explain why it did not inform the exchange of the proposed change in shareholder structure.

"We want all companies to operate with transparency. Most companies know the rules and they follow them. But this case is only a minor one," she said.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

 The Nation