S'pore becomes top investor

S'pore becomes top investor

SINGAPORE (DPA): Singapore firms emerged as the biggest foreign investors in Thailand last year, making purchases in crisis-ridden banks, brokerages, property and food companies, a report said Monday.

They pumped in 44.84 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) to rank as the largest investors in foreign direct investments and in foreign equity investments.

Companies in the city-state lost their top position to Hong Kong in Thai portfolio stocks, according to Bank of Thailand data published in The Business Times.

A string of big-ticket acquisitions by Singapore companies was behind the surge, such as Singapore Telecom's purchase of a 20 percent stake in Shinawatra's cellular phone operator AIS.

United Overseas Bank took a 75 percent stake in Radanasin Bank, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. bought into two major listed companies.