Kitti Thanakitamnuay, chairman of SET-listed Noble Development Plc, has acquired a big lot of NOBLE shares and announced a tender offer plan, giving shareholders the opportunity to sell at the same price.

Mr Kitti says the company will next announce a tender offer.

The move aims to strengthen the company's shareholding structure and unity, allowing the leading property developer to move faster in developing high-quality projects.

Mr Kitti informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Tuesday that he and nCrowne Pte have acquired NOBLE shares from a shareholder totalling 224,288,798 shares, representing 49.14% of the paid issued shares, at 12.25 baht per share. The transactions were valued at about 2.75 billion baht.

Ahead of the transactions, Mr Kitti held a 7.96% stake in the company. His holding will increase to 34.27%, with nCrowne Pte holding 22.83% after the transactions.

"We will announce a tender offer to provide equal opportunity to all shareholders to sell their shares at the same offered price, which is part of our commitment to corporate governance practices and equitable treatment of shareholders," said Mr Kitti.

Under the tender offer plan, Noble Development's shares will be offered at 12.25 baht per share, without a specific number of shares to be acquired.

The company informed the SET and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the plan Tuesday.

The company will publicly announce the offer period after the tender offer is officially announced on June 21, 2018, according to the statement.

Kasikorn Securities Plc is appointed as the tender offer agent.

After the tender offer, Mr Kitti will remain the major shareholder of Noble Development. The final shareholding structure will be announced at the end of the tender offer period.

"Our shareholders will become more confident in the unity and security of the company after this tender offer," he said.

"The Noble brand will be stronger. We will continue to be the leader in ideas and concept for living and differentiate ourselves from the market with unique designs and innovation. Our high-quality property projects will enhance consumers' quality of life and at the same time bring greater benefits to shareholders and society at large.

"In the future, we will develop projects in Thailand and overseas, ranging from residences to office buildings and hotel and tourism projects. Our team of experienced professionals are ready to progress to the next step."

In the first half of 2018, Noble Development closed sales for two big projects in Bangkok -- Noble Chaengwattana and Noble Around Aree -- with a total value of over 5.7 billion baht.

NOBLE shares closed Tuesday on the SET at 12.10 baht, up 90 satang, in trade worth 1.65 billion baht.