BANGKOK--30 Mar--Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest ING Wholesale Banking (ING) today announced that it has opened a representative branch in Thailand, as part of its plans to broaden its South East Asia franchise. The news follows approvals from the Bank of Thailand and the Ministry of Commerce which allow ING to undertake economic and market research, collection of data in support of cross-border financial advisory, and activities in Thailand to support clients' financing. The new office will work in cooperation with ING's office in Singapore, which is the regional headquarters of the corporate and investment bank in the region. Wilfred Nagel, Head of ING Wholesale Banking in Asia, stated: "ING is boosting its capital commitment to Thailand on the back of solid opportunities for growth, leveraging the Thai representative office. While the volatile equities market had increased local companies' appetite for debt products and services, we also see increasing opportunities in cross-border mergers and acquisitions as European or regional corporates seek to expand their exposure to this high growth market. In addition there has been a clear trend in Thai companies looking to challenge the competitive environment by tying up with Thai or foreign investors to boost know-how and business operations." ING recently completed two off-shore deals for Thai companies: advising Banpu on the US$ 84m acquisition of four coal-fired power plants in China and; a US$130m project financing of Gulf Electric's subsidiary, Gulf Power Generation Company Ltd, for a Greenfield gas-fired power plant. ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce in excess of 115,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand. Press enquiries: ING Karen Williams Tel: +852-2913-8536 Email: [email protected] SOURCE ING Wholesale Banking --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--