This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 28, 2017 - December 4, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Mi Equipment Holdings Bhd, a manufacturer of wafer level chip scale packaging sorting machines for the semiconductor industry, is seeking to raise money via a listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia next year to build two new factories in Bayan Lepas and Batu Kawan, Penang.

It will also use the proceeds for research and development purposes and for working capital.

According to its draft prospectus posted on the Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) website, Mi Equipment’s initial public offering (IPO) entails 134.43 million new shares or 26.89% of its enlarged issued shares of 500 million.

Out of this total, 25 million will be made available to the Malaysian public, 17.5 million to eligible directors, employees and business associates, 60.45 million to be placed out to identified investors and 31.48 million to identified bumiputera investors approved by the international trade and industry ministry.

In addition, its major shareholder Oh Kuang Eng is offering 18.52 million shares, or a 3.7% stake in the company, up for sale by way of private placement to identified bumiputera investors.

Mi Equipment said upon completion of its two factories, the group is planning to introduce new assembly and packaging machines into our product line-up.

“We believe that the expansion of our production capacity and the purchase of new equipment will allow our group to enhance and improve our machines to meet evolving demand of the semiconductor industry.

“This in turn will continue to enhance our group earnings and will facilitate our other growth strategies, namely to strengthen our local and global footprint, as well as to further expand our products to new geographical markets, such as new additional cities in China, South Korea and Europe,” said Mi Equipment.