CIMB Thai sells Bangkok office block for 1b baht

Written by Joseph Chin
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 17:25

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Thai Bank PCL is selling its office block Sathorn Building in Sathorn, Bangkok for just over 1 billion Thai baht under its rationalisation exercise to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

President and CEO of CIMB Thai Subhak Siwaraksa said on Tuesday, Oct 20 the bank was currently operating with excess space, as the bank's office operations in Bangkok are spread between its buildings in Sathorn and Langsuan.

"By early next year, we will all be operating from one site at Langsuan Building," he said. The sale is expected to complete in December 2009.

CIMB Thai's board of directors approved the Sathorn Building sale earlier this month, after an extensive bidding process which attracted 20 interested buyers.

"We are pleased with the sale price, which we believe reflects the fair value of the property," said Subhak.

The property consists of a 26-storey tower block and a 3-storey building with a land area measuring a total of 2,706 square metres.

CIMB Thai is a commercial bank in Thailand with 147 branches. Formerly known as BankThai, it became a part of CIMB Group in January 2009, when CIMB Group acquired 93.15% of its shares.

As at June 30, CIMB Thai's total assets and shareholders' funds were 134 billion baht and 7.1 billion baht respectively.