Gulf prepares funding for InTouch

Gulf Energy Development has announced it is ready to apply for a short-term loan from 15 local and foreign financial institutions worth 150 billion baht to fund its acquisition of InTouch Holdings.

The so-called “bridge loan” will be made under a lending agreement that financial institutions provide loans to Gulf if the company’s debt-to-equity (DE) ratio does not exceed 3.5 times.

However, some industry sources say a full takeover is unlikely with Gulf expected to acquire no more than 30% of total shares, which includes the 18.93% it already owns.

The country’s biggest private power producer by market value may also have to issue bonds to fund part of the acquisition, said Smith Banomyong, Gulf’s chief of asset management and…