BankThai aims for partner by year-end.

Byline: Darana Chudasri

Apr. 21--BankThai expects to secure a new foreign strategic partner by the end of the year, bank president Phirasilp Subhapolsiri said.

He said new equity would be issued to give the new partner a minority shareholding in the bank.

But any deal would come only after the bank finalises profits or losses for the covered asset pool with bank regulators, a process which is expected to be resolved over the next several months.

The covered asset pool, which expired in 2005, included assets of 115 billion baht managed by BankThai for the Financial Institutions Development Fund.

BankThai said earlier this month that …