Due to a dispute with state-owned CAT Telecom, debt-laden True Corp – which runs mobile and fixed networks in Thailand – may cut the size of its ‘infrastructure fund’ IPO by about 17 per cent, to $1.9 billion, according to Reuters’ sources.

True Corp – labouring under a THB100 billion debt mountain – had originally planned to raise THB70 billion ($3.1 billion) from the listing, which would make it one the biggest IPOs in Asia this year.

By selling infrastructure assets to the fund – including towers and fibre-optic cable networks – the idea is for TrueCorp to lease them back to provide the fund with steady revenue.

However, True Corp’s chief financial officer, Noppadol Dej-Udom – in conversation with Reuters – indicated that True Corp might not include 4,500 of the 7,000 telecom towers in the IPO that TrueMove (a TrueCorp company) currently leases from CAT Telecom. TrueMove is currently in an arbitration dispute with CAT Telecom over the towers’ ownership.

According to local press reports, TrueMove had previously proposed buying back the 4,500 towers from the state agency and include them in the infrastructure fund’s assets, but this plan is not as straightforward as it might seem.

Anudith Nakornthap, the country’s Information and Communications Technology Minister, said the buy-back plan would be subject to the regulations of the state enterprises involved, while the targeted telecom towers would have to be valued.

It’s not clear now what the final size of the fund will be.

“We are still committed to offering a THB70 billion fund but we are still working on details to finalise the number,” said Noppadol Dej-Udom. “If we come up with a new amount, it needs to be approved by the company’s board of directors.”

Reuters’ sources had earlier said that True Corp would add fibre optic cable networks to the fund instead of the towers, but would reduce the size of the IPO to THB60 billion.

True Corp had initially planned to include 13,000 telecoms towers in the IPO, including the 7,000 used by TrueMove which operates Thailand’s third-largest mobile network.

Raising money as quickly as possible is a priority for True Corp. It has plans to spend THB15 billion this year alone on expanding its 3G and 4G networks as rivals launch high-speed mobile services to gain market share from fast growing mobile data.

And both market leader Advanced Info Service and second-ranked Total Access Communication have foreign partners, something True Corp hopes to emulate.