KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 3): Home-grown furniture and home-living product retailer SSF Home Group Bhd said the public offer of its shares under its RM50 million initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed by 8.25 times.

In a statement, SSF said it received a total of 5,348 applications for 370.04 million shares from the Malaysian public, to which it offered 40 million new shares ahead of its Oct 12 listing on the ACE Market.

For the public portion, 2,712 applications for 232.76 million shares were received, representing an oversubscription rate of 10.64 times.

Meanwhile, for the Bumiputera portion, a total of 2,636 applications for 137.28 million shares were received, translating into an oversubscription rate of 5.86 times.

Meanwhile, another 40 million shares made available for application by directors, employees and those who have contributed to its success were also fully subscribed, SSF said.

SSF said it has also fully placed out the 44 million new shares made available for application by way of private placement to selected investors, as well as another 100 million new shares made available for application by way of private placement to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti).

In total, SSF's IPO comprises issuance of 200 million shares at 25 sen apiece to raise RM50 million, representing 25% of its enlarged share capital.

The bulk of the proceeds will go towards the opening of 18 retail outlets over the next three years.

From the total proceeds, RM14.2 million (28.5%) will be used as capital expenditure, followed by RM21.0 million (41.9%) as start-up costs for the set-up of the new retail outlets, while the remaining RM14.8 million (29.6%) will be allocated towards repayment of bank borrowings, marketing activities, general working capital and to defray listing expenses.

The IPO also involves an offer for sale of 24 million shares by its shareholders, representing 3% of the enlarged share capital, by way of private placement.

Post-IPO, SSF's largest shareholders will comprise managing director and CEO Wong Choong Loong (48.3%), executive director and deputy CEO Lok Kok Khong (15%), and executive directors Chin See Kew (4.4%) and Wong Choong Lian (4.3%).

M&A Securities Sdn Bhd is the principal adviser, sponsor, sole underwriter and sole placement agent for the IPO exercise.