MISC said to hire banks for unit’s IPO

MISC Bhd, the world’s biggest owner of liquefied natural gas tankers, picked three banks to help raise as much as US$500 million from the share sale of its marine engineering unit, two people with knowledge of the plan said.

MISC hired JPMorgan Chase & Co, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and Credit Suisse Group AG for the IPO of Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd, targeted for the second half of the year on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, according to the people who declined to be identified because the talks are private.

The IPO is set to be Malaysia’s biggest initial share sale this year, surpassing Masterskill Education Group Bhd’s RM771.4 million offering this month.

MISC is controlled by Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s state oil company also known as Petronas, said on April 8 it plans to list its petrochemicals business and MISC’s Malaysia Marine on the stock market, following the prime minister’s call for government-linked companies to sell assets and attract foreign investors.

Petronas already has four units listed on Kuala Lumpur’s stock exchange, including MISC. The others are Petronas Dagangan Bhd., Petronas Gas Bhd. and KLCC Property Holdings Bhd.

MISC’s spokeswoman, Zakiah Hanim Hamdan, said she couldn’t immediately comment on the share sale. Petronas spokesman, Azman Ibrahim, declined to comment saying this was a matter for MISC.
- Bloomberg

from btimes.com.my