Even as FGV decides on investment bankers for its listing, the guessing game has already begun on what other big IPOs could be in the pipeline for the local bourse.
One obvious candidate is Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Integrated Healthcare Holdings Sdn Bhd — whose assets include hospital chain operator Pantai Holdings Bhd and Singapore’s healthcare provider Parkway Holdings Ltd.
In April, Khazanah managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said Integrated Healthcare would be floated in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore within three years.
The 30% block in Integrated Healthcare sold to Japan’s second largest trader Mitsui & Co in April for RM3.3 billion effectively valued the healthcare group at RM11 billion.
The exercise — which involved the issuance of new shares and Khazanah selling a portion of its stake — saw Integrated Healthcare raise RM1.98 billion cash. At the time, its enterprise value was RM14.61 billion, said Khazanah, whose wholly-owned Pulau Memutik Ventures (PMV) raised RM1.32 billion from the deal and still holds 70% of Integrated Healthcare.
“An IPO and the repackaging of Integrated Healthcare with a good basket of assets is probably the best way for Khazanah to recoup its huge investment in taking Parkway private after the bidding war [with India’s Fortis Healthcare] last year,” one analyst said.
Khazanah is certainly still on the prowl for strategic healthcare assets. Just last week, the Economic Times of India, citing sources it didn’t name, reported that Integrated Healthcare’s Parkway is the favoured bidder for Gujarat-based Sterling Hospitals in what is reportedly a seven billion rupee (RM446 million) deal that may be completed as early as the end of this month.
Khazanah has been raising cash for its investment needs by hiving off non-core business holdings, like its 32% stake in Pos Malaysia Bhd, and through the fixed income market.
Last Thursday, Khazanah’s vehicle Danga Capital Bhd issued the world’s first offshore yuan-denominated 500 million yuan sukuk (RM246 million).
Fuller coffers will also boost Khazanah’s hand as it joins the global race for gems in strategic sectors like healthcare and upstream commodity assets that are expected to fare well even during gloomy times.
It remains to be seen if Integrated Healthcare will come to the market next year or be the 2013 mega IPO for Malaysia, which has seen at least one mega IPO a year for at least three consecutive years now.
Piquing foreign and local investor interest earlier this year were MSM and Bumi Armada Bhd.
Last year it was Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd, which is controlled by national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd through MISC Bhd.
In 2009, billionaire Ananda Krishnan’s No 1 mobile operator Maxis Bhd returned to the market without its foreign assets.
Chalking up a RM3.4 billion market capitalisation at the RM4.85 close last Friday, MSM shares were up 45% from the RM3.50 apiece sold to institutions and RM3.38 apiece to individual investors at the IPO in June.
The market still has the listing of MMC Corp Bhd’s Gas Malaysia Bhd to look forward to before the year is over. It received the Securities Commission’s conditional approval last week.
Gas Malaysia is offering 333.84 million ordinary shares of 50 sen each. In its draft prospectus on the SC website, Gas Malaysia said its institutional offering will consist of 147.68 million shares to be offered to bumiputera institutional and selected investors approved by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, and 155.82 million shares to institutional and selected investors.
The retail offering will consist of 4.66 million shares reserved for eligible directors and employees, and 25.68 million shares for the public.
According to reports, MMC is expected to raise RM650 million to RM750 million from the listing.
With a couple more major listings lined up for the local bourse, it looks like there is still some activity to look forward to on the local IPO scene. What’s needed now is a marked improvement in underlying sentiment to give these upcoming listings that added boost.
Written by Cindy Yeap, theedgemalaysia.com
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