This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 24, 2025 - November 30, 2025

FOODIE Media Bhd, the digital publisher behind the Foodie social media brands, aims to raise RM75 million in an initial public offering (IPO) at 30 sen per share, as it seeks to convert its online reach into long-term investor returns while accelerating its push in live commerce, key opinion leader (KOL) marketing and short-film content production.

The company is slated to debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on Friday (Nov 28). At the offer price, Foodie Media is set to list with a market capitalisation of RM266.4 million, based on an enlarged share base of 888 million shares.

In an interview at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, co-founder and CEO Nicholas Lim Pinn Yang, 30, tells The Edge that IPO discussions began in November last year, when its board of directors felt it was time to raise capital for its next phase of growth.

Foodie Media’s IPO comprises 138 million new shares and 112 million existing shares for sale, collectively representing 28% of the enlarged share capital.

The retail tranche consists of 59.4 million shares, of which 44.4 million shares have been allocated to the Malaysian public, 2.05 million shares to eligible directors, 5.2 million to eligible employees and 7.76 million to individuals who have contributed to the company.

At 30 sen per share, the flotation is expected to raise RM41.4 million for the company and RM33.6 million for the selling shareholders, including Pinn Yang, his wife and chief operating officer Ang Rui Mei, and his brother and chief content officer Edward Lim Pinn Jian. Bryan Loo Woi Lip, founder and CEO of Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, together with his sister Loo Chee Leng and father Loo Chuu Lin form another bloc of substantial shareholding in Foodie Media.

Post-IPO, Pinn Yang’s stake will fall from 27.35% to 21.81%, Pinn Jian’s from 17.91% to 14.28% and Ang’s from 18.9% to 15.07%. Pinn Yang is expected to receive nearly RM3.5 million from the share sale, while Ang will get close to RM2.4 million and Pinn Jian about RM2.3 million.

Meanwhile, Bryan’s equity interest drops from 11.84% to 8.42%, Chee Leng’s from 9.27% to 6.25% and Chuu Lin’s from 12.07% to 4.9%. LV Holdings Sdn Bhd, the Loo family’s investment vehicle, will fully divest its 1.32% stake. The Loo family is also the selling shareholders of Loob Bhd, the company behind the Tealive beverage brand, which is preparing for a listing on the bourse’s Main Market.

When asked about the Loo family’s contribution to the business as substantial shareholders, Pinn Jian says: “The Loo family approached us during the Covid-19 pandemic from a customer’s perspective and eventually came in as strategic investors. They have helped us to [manage our] operations [better by seeing that we] drew up our standard operating procedures, streamlined content creation and strengthened our finance team — all of which led to revenue growth.”

Foodie Media produces digital content across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, RedNote, Lemon8, X, Douyin, Telegram, WhatsApp and blogs. It manages 37 lifestyle-focused brands across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Besides food and beverage (F&B), Foodie Media’s content includes other lifestyle products such as property, home and living, travel, leisure, technology, sports and cars.

Pinn Yang says the overseas brands contribute about 5% to group revenue. Operations are managed by local hires and overseen by the Malaysian team.

“We will continue to focus on our Malaysian business as it contributes 95% to revenue,” he adds.

With the proceeds raised, Foodie Media plans to expand its facilities and strengthen its workforce. The company currently has about 80 employees — including five full-time live hosts and roughly 50 editors — and aims to hire an additional 190 people to meet rising content-creation demands.

In terms of revenue contribution, 40% comes from large corporations, 40% from advertising agencies and 20% from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), says Pinn Yang. To this end, the group intends to allocate more of its new hires to large corporations. Food-related content accounts for more than 70% of its revenue.

Pinn Yang previously worked with Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd as a product developer. When he left, he started Penang Foodie, the Foodie Media’s inaugural brand, together with Pinn Jian and Ang. The trio pursued it as a side hustle in 2016 before going full-time in the following two to three years.

“Now that we’re already in property, among many industries, we want to venture into wellness, cosmetics and commerce,” says Pinn Yang.

KL Foodie advertorials are priced between RM4,000 and RM6,000 for SMEs, café retailers and roadside store vendors, depending on which state. Large corporations such as banks and airline companies are charged about RM15,000 per advertorial. About 20% of customers pay for cross postings, which have additional charges.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser, sponsor, sole placement agent and sole underwriter for the IPO.

For its financial year ended Aug 31, 2024, Foodie Media recorded a net profit of RM7.45 million on RM23.95 million in revenue, with gross profit margin at 59.4% and profit before tax margin at 44.1%. The company is targeting double-digit annual revenue growth this year.

While Kenanga Research and Malacca Securities are positive on its expansion plans and have assigned premium valuations, Tradeview Research expects only “single-digit revenue growth over the next three financial years”, warning of margin compression from higher staffing costs and a growth plan that relies on expansion into low-margin segments. It also flagged risks around the sustainability of the firm’s live-commerce commission rates and limited short-film production capacity.

Mindful of escalating input costs impacting businesses and growing competition from other KOLs, Pinn Yang says Foodie Media remains relevant by offering more services, which appeal to businesses because of its wide reach of 46 million social media followers.

Asked about the rising popularity of mainland Chinese-style F&B offerings in Malaysia and whether they are augmenting the local scene, Pinn Yang says: “These Chinese F&B outlets, supermarkets and bubble tea brands are coming [in a big way, as] local consumers like it and are [indeed] spending a lot on it. But it all comes down to food quality because Malaysians are discerning eaters. The influx of Chinese food has certainly created another food category but its sustainability depends on whether the food is good.”

As for local operators coping with the heightened competition, he says: “Local operators are increasingly aware that they need to produce a lot of content as social media presence is very important.

“Many businesses tend to spend a lot on renovations, hiring chefs — those aspects of the business. [But] the marketing of the brand is [integral], so many have come to us as we also function as an agency reaching out to other food publications [if not on our food channels].”

The company has been engaging with corporations like Farm Fresh Bhd (KL:FFB), Grab Holdings Ltd, HEYTEA from China, property developers Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) and IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) as well as Talent Corp Malaysia Bhd (as the latter seeks to develop the country’s gig industry) for collaborations. 

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