KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Agricore CS Holdings Bhd, a food ingredients supplier, has obtained approval from Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd to list on its ACE Market.

In a statement on Thursday, the company said the initial public offering (IPO) will involve the issuance of 51.7 million new shares, representing 25.5% of its enlarged share capital upon listing.

Of the 51.7 million new shares, 10.1 million new shares will be available to the Malaysian public via balloting; 10.1 million new shares for its eligible directors, employees and persons who have contributed to the success of the Agricore group under pink form allocations; 25.4 million new shares have been reserved for private placement to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), while the remaining 6.1 million new shares are earmarked for private placement to selected investors.

The Agricore group is principally involved in the sourcing and distribution of plant-based agricultural food ingredients, as well as the production and sale of food additives and fried shallots.

Agricore managing director Oon Boon Khong said the IPO will facilitate the company with greater financial flexibility to pursue future growth opportunities and enhance the group’s reputation in the marketing of its products, and to retain and attract new employees.

For the financial year ended 2022 (FY2022), the Agricore group had posted a net profit of RM7.12 million, on the back of a revenue of RM122.69 million.

Earnings per share was 4.7 sen.

Agricore is scheduled to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities by June 2024.

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