Bangkok--22 Dec--Francom Asia
Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc (“TTA”) announced today the appointment of law firm Baker & McKenzie. The appointment follows the receipt of a letter from the Department of Special Investigation (“DSI”), requesting TTA’s management to attend a 20 December 2011 meeting in order to hear charges filed against it by Mr. Banjerd Satiravaranond and associates.
TTA’s management is confident that it has always run the company in a transparent and professional manner. The company will provide any information required by the DSI in order to safeguard its reputation and prove that the accusations made against it are baseless.
TTA is a transparent public company that has been awarded a five-star corporate governance rating by the Thai Institute of Directors in recognition of the high ethical standards it employs. The company’s investment decisions are made only after a great deal of due diligence, a process that is undertaken internally with high-level assistance from specialized and experienced outside advisors. The company’s management stands by its investment decisions and believes in the long term value they add to the company and to its stakeholders.
TTA’s management regrets this group’s action, and believes that this group might have obtained incorrect facts from unknown sources, which in turn may damage the company’s corporate reputation and disrupt its operations in the lead-up to an Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (“AGM”), which shall be held by the end of January 2012.
TTA’s management categorically denies all accusations of wrongdoing. TTA reserves the right to take legal action to protect the company, its employees and its shareholder base at large.
About TTA
Thoresen Thai Agencies Public Company Limited (TTA) is a strategic investment holding company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (TTA:TB). Its investment strategy is to grow through a balanced and diversified business portfolio of transport, energy, and infrastructure assets, both domestically and internationally. TTA’s evolution from a dry bulk shipping operator began in 2005 with an investment in subsea engineering firm Mermaid Maritime Public Company Limited, which has since been listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (MMT:SP). Since then, TTA has acquired interests in fertiliser and logistics (Baconco Co., Ltd.) coal-related businesses (SKI Energy Resources Inc, Merton Group (Cyprus) Limited and Unique Mining Services Public Company Limited), petroleum tankers (Petrolift, Inc) and a port in Southern Vietnam (Baria Joint Stock Company of Service for Import Export of Agro Forestry Products and Fertilizers).