KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Oriental Kopi Holdings Bhd’s (KL:KOPI) ACE Market listing, while it was at its peak late last year, was deemed widely successful — not only because it commanded a generous 20 times earnings multiple but also because it may have sparked off a wave of food and beverage (F&B) players exploring listing plans.

On the private market, deals in the F&B space have been aplenty as well in recent years — whether led by private equity firms or other F&B players looking to acquire for expansion or to consolidate. Farm Fresh Bhd’s (KL:FFB) RM83.9 million acquisition of Inside Scoop Sdn Bhd in February 2023, for instance, has since yielded its own ice cream line.

Yet, the story is not all upbeat for many other F&B companies that have debuted on Bursa Malaysia in recent times.

Since Oriental Kopi’s listing in January 2025, at least four other F&B-related companies have listed on the stock exchange — A1 AK Koh Group Bhd (KL:A1AKK), HSS Holdings Bhd (KL:HSSBAKERY), Empire Premium Food Bhd (KL:EMPIRE) and RT Pastry Holdings Bhd (KL:RT).

All four companies saw the public portion of their initial public offering (IPO) being oversubscribed but three of them closed either flat or below their IPO price on the first trading day. A1 AK Koh, RT and HSS had yet to rebound to their IPO price at the time of writing (July 15). A1 AK Koh was down 36% from its IPO price, RT’s share price was lower by 19% and HSS was down 16%.

Only Main Market-listed Empire Premium closed higher on its first trading day, climbing 48.5% from its IPO price of 70 sen to RM1.04. The sushi takeaway chain operation’s IPO valuation rivalled that of Oriental Kopi’s at 20 times price-earnings ratio.

So far, Empire Premium’s share price has been staying above its IPO price since its flotation. But it has only been publicly traded for about three months.

Currently, the stock was traded at 98 sen, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM1.05 billion.

The boom of deals in the highly competitive F&B space has raised several questions. Why the F&B IPO boom now? Can the momentum in this space be sustained?

Furthermore, are there good buying opportunities in the F&B space, given that the stocks in the consumer product sector have been a laggard this year?

In Cover Story 2, we take a look at developments at MMC Port Holdings Bhd.

On July 1 this year, Sultan Ahmed Sulayem was appointed as the executive chairman of MMC Port Holdings. In less than two week after Ahmed’s appointment, the port operator’s chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof was removed.

In a memo to the staff at MMC Port Holdings, Sultan Ahmed seems to be strengthening his grip on the company saying, “To ensure continuity of leadership, governance and decision-making across the group, the management of MMC Port (Holdings), all chief executive officers of the operating ports and their respective management teams shall report directly to me with immediate effect…matters requiring executive direction or approval that would previously have been referred to the group chief executive officer should be escalated directly to my office.”

So, is Sultan Ahmed going to buy into MMC Port Holdings?

Then again MMC Port Holdings is wholly owned by MMC Corp Bhd, the flagship of businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary who is known for his philanthropy and as the man who built the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur.

Sultan Ahmed meanwhile left his previous employer giant port and logistics outfit DP World where he was the CEO in February this year after the US Justice Department highlighted his many email correspondences with convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Sultan Ahmed is also known to be financially strong, with a net worth estimated at between US$7 billion and US$8 billion based on his real estate holdings and strategic investments.

So why has Sultan Ahmed taken on the executive chairman position at MMC Port Holdings, and what is actually going on at the port operator?          

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