KUALA LUMPUR: Against headwinds in global markets, Bursa Malaysia has emerged as an oasis for IPOs. In fact, the bleaker the global outlook the brighter Malaysia will shine, said James Fleming, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s co-head of Asia-Pacific global capital markets.

So far this year, the Malaysian IPO market has raised about RM17.41 billion including two of the largest IPOs in the world after Facebook Inc — IHH Healthcare Bhd and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV). The listing of IHH raised RM6.26 billion and FGV RM9.93 billion.

BofA Merrill Lynch acted as one of the joint global coordinators for the global institutional tranche and cornerstone offering in IHH’s IPO. Looking ahead, Fleming told The Edge Financial Daily that he expects the global IPO market to remain challenging in the near term but Malaysia will remain open and vibrant.

Another big IPO already in the making is satellite television service provider Astro All Asia Networks plc which is aiming to raise an estimated RM3 billion. Astro, which currently has a monopoly on pay TV in Malaysia, is partially owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, IHH’s major shareholder, and billionaire T Ananda Krishnan. The IPO is slated for September.

“Foreign investors definitely have an appetite for Malaysian companies even if they are 100% domestically focused.

The Malaysian economy is still growing faster than many other countries, it boasts a favourable investment framework and the country has a youthful demographic which bodes well for future growth,” said Fleming.

IHH, as the second largest listed private healthcare operator in the world, caught the interest of major funds from around the world.

It boasts over 4,900 beds in 30 hospitals across the globe with its main markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey.

IHH, which was simultaneously listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), was also the first stock to be dual listed on two Asean exchanges at IPO, noted Fleming.

Fleming pointed out that recent Malaysian offerings have been of very high quality. “Malaysia’s IPO market has always been strong but as other markets have become more challenging, it has been increasingly seen as a safe haven for issuance,” he said.

“There is a lot of liquidity in the domestic market, both institutional and retail, as well as strong international support for Malaysian equities,” he said. Fleming also notes that volatility, which has plagued global markets, makes it very difficult to price IPOs.

In terms of post market performance however, four of the nine counters to list on Bursa Malaysia this year are trading below their offer prices. The newly listed shares are trading at an average premium of 3.26% to their offer prices. IHH is up 10.5% from its retail offer price of RM2.85 at last Friday’s close of RM3.15 while FGV has added 10.9% from its retail offer price of RM4.65.