Temasek unit pares holding in Thailand's Shin Corp

SINGAPORE: A company 49-percent owned by Singapore state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings has sold part of its stake in Shin Corp, the Thai telecom group said Thursday.

Cedar Holdings Ltd sold 253.5 million shares, or about 7.9 percent of total shares, Shin Corp said in a letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

As a result of the sale, Cedar Holdings now holds 46.44 percent of Shin Corp.

A term sheet seen by Dow Jones Newswires showed Cedar Holdings offered the shares at between 35.50-37.25 Thai baht each, which would have raised up to 9.44 billion baht ($316 million).

Aspen Holdings, a wholly-owned unit of Temasek, holds another 41.68 percent in Shin Corp.

Shin Corp said in its letter to the Thai stock exchange that it also asked Aspen Holdings whether it had plans to sell its shares in the company.

"Aspen informed the company that it has no immediate plan to sell its shares... and remains confident in the business and management of the company," the letter said.

In 2006 Temasek bought a 49.6-percent stake in Shin Corp from the family of then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The tax-free deal triggered months of street protests demanding Thaksin's resignation over alleged abuse of power and corruption, culminating in a coup by royalist generals in September 2006 that drove the tycoon-turned-premier into exile.

Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra became Thailand's prime minister earlier this month after her Puea Thai party won in July elections.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011