Thailand's Carabao Group is on course to raise Bt7 billion ($210 million) from its initial public offering after pricing the 250 million share deal at Bt28, the very top of a Bt26 to Bt28 range.
Investors' desire to ride the momentum in Thai consumer stocks led to an institutional oversubscription ratio of 17 times including anchor demand, or 10 times overall.
Foreign investors placed orders for slightly more paper than domestic institutions, with participation from about 50 international accounts in total.
Domestic and foreign institutions have each been allocated 72 million shares, while retail investors will receive 66.5 million via a public offering, which runs from November 12 to 14. There is also a 39.5 million share patronage tranche.
Listing is scheduled for November 21 when the group will float 25% of its enlarged share capital.
At Bt28, Carabao has been priced at 18.7 times forecast 2015 earnings. This places it at a discount to smaller and less well known local drinks companies such as Sappe and Ichitan.
The two have performed well since listing earlier this year, although both have come off slightly since Carabao began marketing its deal. Green tea manufacturer, Ichitan, is up 63.8% since its IPO at Bt13 per share in mid-April.
Having hit a year-to-date high of Bt22.2 at the end of October, it has since fallen to Bt21.5, which equates to 20 times 2015 earnings.
Likewise, health drink manufacturer, Sappe has tripled since its IPO in June at Bt13.5. It is trading at the Bt40.5 level, after hitting a high of Bt44 at the end of October.
At current levels, it is valued at 24.5 times 2015 earnings.
Foreign investors turned net buyers of the Thai stock market on November 4 and have stayed that way over the past five trading sessions. As a result, they have offset domestic retail investors, which have been net sellers over the same period.
Carabao is Thailand's second most popular energy drink by market share, with a current market share of 21.3% compared to M-150's Osotspa's 46%. The drink is named after the famous rock band Carabao and its lead singer, Aed Carabao.
He has long been known as Thailand's "voice of the people" singing songs about real life for the country's working class. However, as the country's domestic press have pointed out, Aed Carabao can no longer be said to represent them given how rich he has now become on the back of the IPO.
According to the Bangkok Post, he owned 141.5 million share pre-IPO equating to a valuation of just under Bt4 billion ($120 million).
