KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 22): Master Tec Group Bhd, which is set for listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on Jan 29, said its shares offered to the public under its initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed by 7.11 times.

The 51 million shares made available for the public received a total of 7,276 applications for 413.65 million shares with a value of RM161.32 million, the wires and cable manufacturer said in a statement on Monday.

Half of the 51 million shares that were offered under the Bumiputera category saw 2,475 applications for 80.30 million shares received, representing an oversubscription rate of 2.15 times.

The remaining 25.5 million shares under the public category drew 4,801 applications for 333.34 million shares, representing an oversubscription rate of 12.07 times.

Master Tec said the 2.14 million shares made available for application by the eligible directors, employees, and business associates have been fully subscribed.

Meanwhile, 104.96 million shares made available by way of private placement to selected investors have been fully placed out.

Master Tec is primarily involved in the manufacturing and distribution of power cables, control and instrumentation cables, and solar direct current power cables under its Mastertec trademark since 2009.

Master Tec’s IPO entails the public offering of 285.6 million ordinary shares, comprising a public issuance of 158.1 million new shares and an offer-for-sale of 127.5 million existing shares, which collectively represent 28% of the group’s enlarged issued share capital of 1.02 billion shares, at an offer price of 39 sen per share.

The public issue is expected to raise RM61.66 million.

Towards expanding its annual production capacity, Master Tec has earmarked RM24.39 million or 39.55% of proceeds from the public issue to purchase new machineries and equipment, as well as RM16.78 million (27.22%) for construction of two new power cable manufacturing plants in Alor Gajah, Melaka.

Another RM16.29 million (26.42%) will be used for general working capital, with the remaining RM4.2 million (6.81%) set aside for listing expenses.

SJ Securities Sdn Bhd is the principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter, and placement agent for Master Tec's IPO.