Thailand’s Richest Man Becomes Top Shareholder in Kasikornbank
(Bloomberg) -- Gulf Development Pcl, controlled by Thailand’s richest man Sarath Ratanavadi, has doubled its stake in Kasikornbank Pcl to become the commercial lender’s largest shareholder.
Gulf increased its holding of Kasikornbank by 116 million shares to about 10% from 5% in its previous filing in October, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission statement Friday. The power producer and telecommunication company had ranked fourth with a 4.53% stake as of Sept. 11, when the lender published its top shareholder list.
The total stake is worth around 46 billion baht ($1.5 billion).
In a phone interview, Sarath signaled he doesn’t intend to increase the stake any further.
“The bank has a very good dividend payment and we are comfortable with the current level of our shareholding,” he said.
Sarath’s Gulf Development last year merged with Intouch Holdings Pcl, giving the company direct control of Thailand’s biggest mobile phone company Advanced Info Service Pcl. Advanced Info has a market capitalization of about $37 billion.
Sarath, who has built Gulf into Thailand’s largest power producer, gained control of Intouch by gradually accumulating a 47% stake. He has a net worth of about $17 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after adding more than $5 billion to his wealth in 2026.
Kasikornbank is Thailand’s second-largest lender with total assets of 4.6 trillion baht. Its shares are little changed this year, trailing a 14% gain in the broader Thai stock benchmark. Gulf’s shares have jumped 42% this year.
Gulf and its partners are among the groups that won the auction for the central bank’s new virtual banking licenses.
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