The massive overnight block trade launched by a group of Thai institutional investors in Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (SET: THAI) officially executed on Thursday morning, June 18, generating substantial market turnover on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
According to trade report data from the SET, a total of 69 big lot transactions were recorded in the morning session, crossing a staggering 1,547,893,200 shares at an average price of 6.00 bath per share, bringing the total transaction value to 9,287.35 million baht ($252 million).
The final volume significantly exceeded initial Bloomberg baseline expectations of 565 million shares, indicating a much broader participation from the selling consortium or an accelerated upsize in demand during the overnight bookbuilding process managed by global placement agent UBS.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the selling group, consisting of major domestic saving cooperatives—including the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Thammasat University, Mahidol University, AEROTHAI, and the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA)—successfully liquidated the massive tranche at a 7.69% discount relative to the stock’s last close.
Higher-than-expected offload could mean that the same group decided to withdraw from Thai Airways at a much faster pace or other groups could be executing the same move.
Market participants are closely watching THAI’s liquidity profile following this transaction, as it marks a pivotal capital milestone ahead of the high-stakes lock-up expiration scheduled for August, which will free up approximately 70% of the airline’s remaining restricted shares.
