Major Thai gas-fired power and rooftop solar IPP Gulf Energy Development PLC is preparing to launch an IPO after receiving approval from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

The IPO will include up to 533.30 million shares to be registered on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by the end of this year.

Porntipa Chinvetkitvanit, Gulf president, said that Gulf has gas-fired power projects and rooftop solar projects with a total installed capacity of 4,772.1MW as of 1 November 2017.

She added: “We have extensive experiences and expertise in the industry and strong partnerships for power plant development. We aim to become one of the leading gas-fired independent power producers in the region.”

A Gulf statement said: “The IPO proceeds will be used to fund the company’s equity contributions and provide loans to its subsidiaries and associates and other companies as well as to invest in its future projects. The rest will be used for repayment of indebtedness to commercial financial institutions, redemption of debentures and/or bills of exchange issued by the Company and for the Group’s working capital and other general corporate purposes.”

Along with various partnerships in Japan, Gulf also holds a 9.09% equity interest in SPCG, one of the largest generators and distributors of solar power in Thailand, and a 0.46% equity interest in EDL-Generation, a generator and distributor of electric power in Laos.