Bualuang Securities has long been regarded as one of the best securities firms in Thailand’s domestic market, working on some of the country’s biggest listings and block trades. But it was the firm’s ability to secure the very best prices for its clients that stood out during our awards period.
Bualuang, a subsidiary of Bangkok Bank led by president Pichet Sithi-Amnuai, worked on four IPOs between June 2017 and May 2018, each of which priced at a premium to comparable companies, according to sources at the firm. Bualuang puts the average premium at 51%.
But arguably more impressive than this were the block trades the firm worked on. These deals, which depress prices by adding a large sell order to the market, almost always price at a discount to where a stock is trading at the time. Bualuang managed to close five block trades at an average discount of just 3.6% — and even managed to secure a premium price for another four blocks.
That was a testament to the firm’s skill at executing deals that match the interests of both buyers and sellers. The fact that these skilful executions occurred on some of the toughest deals in years makes it even more impressive.
The Bt24 billion ($733 million) listing of power company Gulf Energy Development in November 2017 gave a clear demonstration of Bualuang’s skills. The firm worked on the deal with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS, as well as local rivals Kasikorn Securities and SCB Securities. Together, they closed the biggest IPO in the country for more than 13 years.
Bualuang also took sole bookrunner slot on a pair of deals, running the $123 million IPO of cosmetics company Do Day Dream and the $117.8 million listing of Bualuang Office Leasehold Reit.
By working on deals large and small, and showing its ability to spearhead a share sale as well as work alongside big foreign investment banks, Bualuang Securities has once again demonstrated that it deserves to be considered the best securities house in Thailand.