Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin has acquired 178 million shares in his company from foreign funds for Bt5 apiece, or Bt890 million.
The deal has increased Srettha's stake from 2.52 per cent to 14.6 per cent.
The foreign funds that sold the shares to Srettha belong to Trendy Plan Investments, UOB Kay Hian and Chase Nominees 42.
Srettha declined to disclose how many shares came from each fund but said he would buy another 135 million shares at the same price per share, or Bt675 million, from them at the end of this month. That will increase his shareholding to 24 per cent, making him the company's largest shareholder.
Srettha will have paid Bt1.565 billion for the two deals. He will take out loans from commercial banks for the portion that he cannot cover himself.
Previously, Trendy Plan Investments held the largest share at 13.45 per cent, followed by Thai NVDR at 10.64 per cent and UOB Kay Hian at 8.76 per cent.
"I'm limiting my investment to 24 per cent, because of I don't want to be subject to the tender-offer rule," Srettha said.
Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) regulations stipulate investors acquiring 25 per cent of a company must offer to buy out other shareholders at the same price agreed with the block seller.
Srettha said he had considered the share acquisition for a long time but was unable to reach a deal with foreign funds until recently.
He said now the time was ripe, with foreign funds ready to sell and him ready to buy.
This will mark the first time since the 1997 financial crisis that Srettha and his family are the largest shareholders in Sansiri. The crisis saw their major stake plunge from more than 30 per cent to less than 10 per cent.
Sansiri now ranks among the top three listed property firms on the SET.
The company expects presales of Bt20 billion this year, up 21.21 per cent from Bt16.5 billion last year, by launching 20 single-family, condominium and townhouse projects worth a combined Bt27 billion.
The company estimates last year's figures will record revenue of Bt18 billion for a net profit of Bt1.5 billion.
Sansiri closed at Bt4.56 yesterday, up 8 satang from Monday.
