Felda Targets $6.9B Market Value in Malaysia

by **Cals** Tue 14 Feb 2012, 10:37

Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s largest plantation company, aims to file a draft prospectus this week for Malaysia’s biggest share sale in two years, Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, chairman of parent company Felda Holdings Bhd. said.
The Kuala Lumpur-based palm oil, cocoa and rubber producer may have a market capitalization of about 21 billion ringgit ($6.9 billion) upon listing, Isa said in a telephone interview late yesterday, confirming an earlier report by Bernama. Felda originally aimed to file its prospectus with Malaysia’s Securities Commission on Feb. 10, he said, without explaining the delay.
“We should be listing on May 10 if everything goes on well” he said, declining to say how much it wants to raise as details of the share-sale are still being finalized.
Felda Global aims to raise at least $1 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said Oct. 24. That would be Malaysia’s third-biggest offering, after Maxis Bhd. (MAXIS) in 2009 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd.’s (PCHEM) record 12.8 billion-ringgit IPO in 2010. The share sale follows government calls for larger local companies to list.
The IPO will create a “blue-chip” and “global conglomerate” that will attract international investors to the Malaysian stock market, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a speech announcing the share sale on Oct. 7.
Morgan Stanley, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd. and Maybank Investment Bank will be joint global coordinators, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information was private. Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will help as book runners, they said.
Felda Global manages more palm oil and rubber estates for Federal Land Development Authority, a Malaysian government agency. It manages more than 880,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of estates and has businesses in the U.S., Canada, Australia, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa, according to its website.
It’s also the largest shareholder of MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd. (MSM), the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest sugar refiner.