When the deal was announced yesterday, Thaksin insisted that he had no part in it. He said that the transaction was orchestrated by his son to clear him of conflicts of interest.

But now we’ve learned that Thaksin was the one who made the phone call to Pong Sarasin, who was announced yesterday as the new chairman of Shin, replacing the outgoing Bhanpot Damapong.

So what role did he take in the deal?

Obviously, it must not have been as a politician, but as the beloved father of his two children who netted Bt52 billion from the share sale.

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Late invites

Temasek Holdings’ takeover of Shin Corp Plc is undeniably a historic deal. At a price of Bt50 per share, the takeover is valued at Bt75 billion, or US$1.9 billion, making it the biggest acquisition deal in Thailand, ever.

The behind-the-scenes manoeuvring was equally historic.

The atmosphere thickened last weekend, as the deal was expected to be announced on Monday.

But on Sunday, nobody was sure if it would really happen.

On Monday morning, many people called up www.set.or.th, to see if Shin had announced anything to the Stock Exchange of Thailand about the deal.

Nothing.

Instead, it was the SET that announced that there was a big-lot transaction for the 49.59 per cent stake in Shin. As a result, share trading in Shin and its listed subsidiaries was halted in the morning.

Later, it became known that Shin’s board of directors would host a press conference to address the deal.

When reporters were informed of the press conference, they presumed it would take place at the Inter-Continental Hotel but were unsure of the time. Given that it should take place at 2pm, some reporters were there ahead of time. But at 1.30pm, what they saw at the function room was only hotel staff arranging flowers. The hotel staff did not even know the subject of the press conference. More surprisingly, on Sunday, the hotel did not know that a press conference was to be held there.

Whatever, all went well, with a flock of local and foreign news hounds showing up to be part of this big moment.

But the whole deal was so secretive from beginning to end. And despite the press conference yesterday, expect many more secrets to be unveiled later on.

achara_d@nationgroup.com