CTOS IPO receives strongest retail demand

Article was originally published by TheStar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: CTOS Digital Bhd’s initial public offering (IPO) garnered the largest retail demand since 2013, with the public tranche oversubscribed by 27.6 times at a value of RM1.38bil.

In a statement issued yesterday, the credit reporting agency said it received a total of 51, 494 applications for 1.26 billion shares, out of the 44 million shares made available for the Malaysian public.

“The bumiputra portion was 14.37 times oversubscribed, with a total of 14, 192 applications for 338.1 million issue shares received. The public portion was oversubscribed by 40.77 times, with a total of 37, 302 applications for 918.9 million issue shares received, ” it said.Meanwhile, the institutional offering of 936 million IPO shares, comprising 900 million offer shares and 36 million issue shares offered to Malaysian and foreign institutional and selected investors, have been fully subscribed.

CTOS said a total of 23 cornerstone investors subscribed to 54.4% of the institutional offering and the remaining shares available for bookbuilding saw an overwhelming demand of over RM6.5bil.

Participants include renowned names such as Employees Provident Fund Board, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Aberdeen Standard Investment, AIA, Eastspring Investments, FIL Investment Management and JP Morgan Asset Management.

According to CTOS group chief executive officer Dennis Martin, the strong oversubscription for both the retail and institutional offerings indicate investors’ confidence in the group’s track record and strong growth trajectory.“The credit reporting industry in Malaysia and Asean are at relatively early stages compared to developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

“As the leading player, we are well positioned to capitalise on the potential for growth across existing and new segments and verticals, ” he said.

CTOS is slated to list on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 19.

, and at a market capitalisation of RM2.4bil, it is set to be the largest IPO listing on Bursa Malaysia in 2021.

The IPO shares will be issued at RM1.10 apiece.

The IPO exercise entails the public issue of 200 million new shares and an offer-for-sale allocation of 900 million existing shares.

Out of the RM220mil new IPO proceeds, RM155.2mil will be used for the repayment of all bank borrowings to free up debt headroom, while RM59mil will be earmarked for investment and acquisition of target companies.

The remaining RM6.1mil will be utilised to defray listing fees and expenses.