FIDF LIKELY TO SELECT ADVISER FOR SIAM CITY BANK SALE BY END OF MONTH

       The Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) is expected to select a financial adviser for Siam City Bank's share sale by the end of the month, Bank of Thailand Assistant Governor Tongurai Limpiti said yesterday.
       Tongurai, who is also in charge of FIDF management, said four of the 22 firms that had applied for the advisory role met the fund's technical specifications.
       They are Quant Group, Trinity Advisory 2001, Tisco Securities and Phatra Securities.
       The FIDF - the state-owned rescue fund - owns a 47.58-per-cent stake in Siam City Bank (SCIB).
       "We gave technical scores based on strategy, share-offering method and timetable for the share sale. These four companies got the highest scores and we will negotiate with them about pricing later," she said.
       If the FIDF can agree the pricing with the company with the highest score, it is unnecessary to summon other firms to negotiations, she added.
       Thanachart Bank has expressed interest in acquiring SCIB's shares from the FIDF, and has already won shareholders' approval to issue debentures worth up to Bt40 billion to finance the purchase plan and to increase its second-tier capital.
       The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which recently signed a deal to buy a 19.26-per-cent stake in ACL Bank from Bangkok Bank for Bt3.25 billion, has also shown interest in buying the FIDF's sizeable stake in SCIB.