In the News: 2004

Lombard's Portfolio Company, K-Tech, Receives Strong Demand at Its IPO

PR Newswire
2 September 2004

K-Tech Construction Public Company Limited ("K-Tech"), one of Thailand's leading construction and engineering companies, completed its IPO of 50 million shares at a price of Baht 7.00 per share on August 24, 2004. K-Tech's IPO was several times over-subscribed in both the institutional and the retail tranches, and the shares began trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on September 1, 2004. On the first day of trading, K-Tech shares closed at Baht 7.75 per share, a 10.7% premium to the IPO price. The new capital raised through the IPO will be used to finance working capital and to repay debt.

K-Tech was founded in 1997 by Mr. Norair Der Kevorkian and a team of experienced professionals and has evolved into one of Thailand's leading construction companies with over 8,000 employees and in excess of 20 projects currently under construction. The Company has successfully completed many major construction projects, including shopping malls, hypermarkets, hotels and single-family detached housing, examples of which include many of the Carrefour stores throughout Thailand and the Central Rama II shopping center in Bangkok.

The Thailand Equity Fund invested in K-Tech in December 2003 and owns 15% of the Company. Thailand Equity Fund is a USD245 million private equity fund sponsored by Lombard Investments, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. The fund was formed with the support of the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand to make private equity investments in operationally competitive Thai businesses. Investors in the fund include the IFC, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), Asian Development Bank, DEG (a member of Germany's KfW Group), the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Thailand, and fifteen leading Thai banks and other institutions.

"With its focus on quality service and reliability, we believe that K-Tech is well positioned to directly benefit from the strong growth of the Thai construction industry," said Mr. Thomas Smith, Lombard's Managing Director in San Francisco. "K-Tech has established a reputable group of major developers as clients, which should provide a strong base for growing revenues and profits."