Bangkok-based 9 Basil, an independent funds management business, has announced plans to continue backing its investee company Alpha Capital and position it for an IPO in 2022.
9 Basil will continue to allocate capital to the distressed debt management platform, and aim to make it the largest independent asset management company in Thailand, according to a press statement. 9 Basil first acquired its stake in Alpha Capital in 2019.
Schwin Chiaravanont, 9 Basil’s co-founder and managing partner, said the firm is eager to replicate the success of its investee company Ngern Tid Lor Co Ltd’s (NTL) recent IPO with Alpha Capital.
NTL, a micro-lending firm, had a successful IPO in May, which was the largest ever recorded in the finance and securities sector in Thailand, as well as one of the top five largest equity IPOs in the history of the country’s equity market. The total offering size was 38 billion baht ($1.22 billion), according to a release by CVC Capital Partners, which first invested in NTL in 2018.
“Alpha Capital is, without doubt, the most financially efficient operator in the AMC space. The management team has been at the helm of Alpha Capital throughout challenging economic circumstances since the Asian Financial Crisis, making them true experts in the field of distressed investment,” said Chiaravanont in the statement.
Having accelerated its pursuit of opportunities in the distressed real estate development sector in recent years, 9 Basil is looking to buy additional real estate assets, focusing on completed or near-completed projects.
While the firm’s current focus is on residential property, 9 Basil also expects growth in the number of opportunities arising from the commercial real estate and hospitality property markets.
9 Basil is currently in the process of raising a $500 million fund, after closing its Private Equity Fund I at $120 million in October last year. The firm has partners in New Jersey, the US, and Hangzhou.
The company is a portfolio firm of the Bangkok-based multi-family investment company Blueprint Forest and serves as its PE platform. 9 Basil is powered by a number of established families across Southeast Asia.
Chiaravanont, who belongs to the billionaire Thai Chiaravanont family, founded the company along with Kris Panijpan, an established Chartered Financial Analyst, and investment banker. The founders, in an interview to DealStreetAsia in October last year, had said that “distress is where they see higher returns – even in the wake of the current [COVID-19] crisis”.
Chiaravanont is also the co-founder of 2W Group, a family office in Thailand.