Thailand low-cost carrier Nok Air has successfully raised Bt1.7 billion ($51 million) through a share offering.

The company issued 1.1 million shares at a subscription price of Bt1.50, according to a stock exchange filing.

The entire issue was subscribed by existing shareholders.

Nok has struggled to raise funds in 2017. At the end of May, Nok Air raised Bt1.2 billion ($35 million) from a rights issue to its existing shareholders. This fell short of the Bt1.5 billion it had originally sought to generate.

Out of the 625 million shares offered at that time, only 511 million shares were taken up. Thai Airways International, which used to hold a 39.2% stake in Nok, decided not to take part in the issue. This led to a dilution of its shareholding in Nok to 21.57%.

A report in the Bangkok Post, citing sources, indicates that Thai Airways decided to subscribe to the new issue following a leadership change at Nok, which saw chief executive Patee Sarasin replaced by former NokScoot chief executive Piya Yodmani.

Thai had a fractious relationship with Sarasin, whose tenure as Nok's boss started with the carrier's founding in 2004. Despite frequent attempts at rapprochement, the management teams of Thai and Nok never quite saw eye to eye.

Source: Cirium Dashboard