KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Golden Destinations Group Bhd, a tourism firm, said the retail portion of its initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed by 2.1 times ahead of its listing on the ACE Market on April 16.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it received 3,444 applications for 154.89 million IPO shares from the Malaysian public, representing a total value of RM69.7 million.

Within this, the Bumiputera portion received 521 applications for 2.7 million IPO shares after clawback and reallocation while the other Malaysian portion recorded an oversubscription rate of 5.09 times.

Shares reserved for eligible persons were fully taken up while those made available by way of private placement to selected investors have been fully placed out, said Golden Destinations.

It added that shares reserved for identified Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) were also fully subscribed.

Notices of allotment will be posted to successful applications on April 15.

Golden Destinations’ IPO comprises 300 million shares, priced at 45 sen each. This includes a public issue of 200 million new shares and an offer for sale of 100 million existing shares.

Golden Destinations mainly operates within the business-to-business space, serving a network of licensed travel agents rather than selling its products and services directly to end-consumers.

The company curates travel and cruise packages distributed through a network of over 800 travel agents across Malaysia, as well as provides standalone travel support services such as flight ticketing services.

UOB Kay Hian is the principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for the IPO.