KUALA LUMPUR (March 10): Cuckoo International (MAL) Bhd said on Monday RHB Investment Bank and AmInvestment Bank have agreed to jointly underwrite its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Market.

Under the agreement, the underwriters will back the retail tranche of the offering to the public and eligible persons, according to a statement from Cuckoo International. No timeline was provided, though a company has six months to complete an IPO within six months of approval.

“We believe the IPO will further strengthen our business, enabling us to expand our reach and enhance our ability to serve communities across the nation,” said Cuckoo International executive director and chief executive officer Hoe Kian Choon.

The proposed IPO involves an offer for sale of existing shares and a public issue of new shares at a price to be determined later, according to the draft prospectus filed in October 2024 by the local unit of the South Korean appliance maker.

The listing would offer up to a 25.5% stake in the company that sells and rents out appliances ranging from water purifiers to treadmills. The company is the sole and exclusive distributor of Cuckoo-branded products in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.

Cuckoo Homesys Co Ltd, a South Korean-listed company best known for its rice cookers, currently holds a 63% stake in Cuckoo Malaysia and supplies products to its Malaysian subsidiary.

Under the retail tranche, a total of 28.66 million new shares will be made available for application by the Malaysian public through balloting, while 14.33 million shares will be allocated for eligible persons.

The institutional tranche meanwhile involves 222.08 million existing shares and 100.3 million new shares to Malaysian and foreign institutional as well as select investors through bookbuilding.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used for product purchases to expand the rental business, repayment of bank borrowings, capital expenditure for opening 'Brandshops' and upgrading information technology systems, expansion into Singapore, and defraying estimated listing expenses.

Meanwhile, any funds raised from the offer for sale of 222.08 million existing shares will accrue entirely to a group of South Korean and Malaysian shareholders, including Hoe and his wife Mak Foong Ling.

RHB Investment Bank is the sole principal adviser, joint global coordinator, joint bookrunner, managing underwriter, and joint underwriter for the IPO, while AmInvestment Bank is a joint global coordinator, joint bookrunner, and joint underwriter.

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