KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Palm oil producer Johor Plantations Group Bhd said on Friday it has signed agreements with four underwriters for its initial public offering (IPO) in the third quarter of 2024.

Under the agreements, RHB Investment Bank Bhd, AmInvestment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd, and Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd will underwrite the entire 77.5 million IPO shares under the retail tranche, Johor Plantations said in a statement.

Johor Plantations is set to become an integrated player in the downstream segment with the funds raised from the IPO, said managing director Mohd Faris Adli Shukery.

“Our goal is to produce specialty oils and fats, along with other high-value downstream palm oil products, tailored for the food industry,” Mohd Faris said. “This strategy aims to strengthen our position as a fully integrated oil palm producer and allow us to capture better margins across the value chain.”

The IPO involves up to 875 million shares comprising a public issue of 464 million new shares and an offer for sale of up to 411 million existing shares. All in all, the listing would offer investors up to 35% of its enlarged share capital of the subsidiary of Johor Corp.

Under the retail tranche, 50 million shares will be made available to the Malaysian public via balloting — 25 million of which will be set aside for Bumiputera investors. Another 27.5 million shares will be reserved for eligible persons who contributed to the group’s success.

As for the institutional offering, 312.5 million shares will be allocated to Bumiputera investors while another 485 million will be made available to Malaysian institutional and selected investors, other than Bumiputera investors, and foreign institutional and selected investors outside the US.

Johor Corp wholly owns Johor Plantations via Kulim (M) Bhd, and the state-owned company will retain a 65% stake post-listing.

RHB Investment Bank is the IPO’s principal adviser and managing underwriter and joint bookrunner with AmInvestment Bank, CIMB Investment Bank, Affin Hwang Investment Bank, and CLSA.

RHB Investment Bank, AmInvestment Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CLSA are also joint global coordinators.

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