KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): Khazanah Nasional Bhd has completed a placement of 105 million shares representing 1% in CIMB Group Holdings Bhd at RM5.10 per share, which raised RM535.5 million in gross proceeds.
The placement, which trimmed its stake in the banking group to 24.7%, represents a 3.4% discount to the banking group's closing market price of RM5.28 on Wednesday (April 13), Khazanah said in a statement Friday.
The statement confirms a report by theedgemarkets.com on Wednesday that Khazanah was placing out more shares in CIMB through an accelerated placement. Citing a summary of the offer it sighted, the report noted that Khazanah was placing out 83 million shares, with the upsize option for the placement yet to be confirmed at the time, at between RM5.10 and RM5.28 via the book building that opened on Wednesday and closed that same night.
Meanwhile, Khazanah said in its statement that the latest share placement is part of its ongoing efforts to rebalance its portfolio and recycle its investments into new assets in Malaysia and globally, including new investments under Dana Impak or Impact Fund.
"In line with Khazanah’s new long-term strategy in advancing Malaysia’s economy and society under Advancing Malaysia, Dana Impak is intended to catalyse new growth areas, build Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and increase national resilience whilst driving socio-economic outcomes," it said.
It added that the shares were placed out to government-linked funds, both domestic and global long-only accounts as well as multi-strategy funds, and that CIMB and Credit Suisse were the joint book runners for the exercise.
Prior to this, Khazanah similarly placed out 138.4 million shares representing a 1.4% stake in CIMB last September via an accelerated bookbuilding. That placement was completed at RM4.80 per share and raised RM664.5 million for the sovereign wealth fund.
CIMB shares slipped five sen or 0.97% to close at RM5.09, giving the banking group a market capitalisation of RM53.97 billion.
The stock, which slumped to as low as RM2.79 in end-October 2020, has been on a recovery trajectory since — barring the sharp drop to RM4.64 last month amid news the group was being sued by a dozen account holders over a banking error that caused their monies to be frozen.