Johor Plantations Group Bhd managing director Mohd Faris Adli (left) and chairman Tan Sri Dr Ismail Bakar at the launch of its prospectus on June 12. (Photo by Patrick Goh/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Johor Plantations Group Bhd (KL:JPG), slated for listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 9, announced that the 50 million new shares it offered to the Malaysian public under its initial public offering (IPO) have been oversubscribed by 2.18 times.

In a statement, the group said it received a total of 9,555 applications for 159.01 million shares worth RM133.57 million from the Malaysian public.

Johor Plantations offered 875 million shares under its IPO, representing 35% of its enlarged issued share capital. This comprises 797.5 million shares for institutional offering at a price to be determined by way of book building, and 77.5 million shares for retail offering at 84 sen per share.

Of the retail offering portion, 50 million shares are made available to the Malaysian public via balloting, while the remaining 27.5 million shares are reserved for eligible persons.

For the Bumiputera portion, a total of 3,184 applications for 39.28 million shares were received, representing an oversubscription rate of 0.57 times.

For the non-Bumiputera portion, a total of 6,371 applications for 119.73 million shares were received, representing an oversubscription rate of 3.79 times.

In addition, the shares made available to eligible persons have been fully subscribed.

As for the institutional offering, the joint global coordinators and joint book-runners have confirmed that the 312.5 million shares offered to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti), as well as 485 million shares offered to Malaysian and foreign institutional and selected investors have been fully placed out.

A total of seven cornerstone investors have subscribed for an aggregate of 325.4 million shares, representing 40.8% of the institutional offering.

Meanwhile, the remaining shares available for book building recorded an oversubscription rate of 4.19 times.

The notices of allotment will be mailed to all successful applicants by July 4.

Johor Plantations reported a profit after tax attributable to owners of RM167.31 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), which translates into earnings per share of 6.7 sen based on its enlarged capital of 2.5 billion shares.

This represents a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.5 times, based on its retail price of 84 sen per share, according to its prospectus.

The group is expected to have a market capitalisation of RM2.1 billion upon listing.

RHB Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser, joint global coordinator, joint bookrunner, managing underwriter and joint underwriter for the IPO. AmInvestment Bank Bhd and CIMB Investment Bank Bhd are the joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners and joint underwriters.

CLSA Singapore Pte Ltd and CLSA Securities Malaysia Sdn Bhd are the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. Meanwhile, Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd is the joint bookrunner and joint underwriter.