Intouch shareholders in Thailand approve merger of energy and telecom with Gulf Energy

Shareholders of Thailand's Intouch Holdings approved a merger with Sarath Ratanavadi, a billionaire who owns the power company Gulf Energy on Tuesday. This merger is expected to be worth nearly $25 billion.

Gulf Energy's market capitalisation is $7.72 billion while that of its telecom affiliate Intouch, according to LSEG data.

Investors in Gulf approved the merger in October 2024.

Intouch filed a filing on Tuesday showing that more than 99 percent of its stockholders voted to approve the registered capital for the newly formed entity.

In July 2024 power producer Gulf, who is the largest shareholder in Thaicom, and Intouch which controls Advanced Info announced their intention to merge. The merger will maximize benefits for both firms, improve operations, and increase investments.

In January, the boards of Advanced and Thaicom asked their respective investors to reject tenders offered under their merger.

Gulf holds a stake of about 47.4% in Intouch. Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), with a 25.0% interest, is next.

Singtel and Thaicom did not respond immediately to requests for comments. (Reporting and editing by Shounak dasgupta in Bengaluru, and Louise Heavens.)

(source: Reuters)