Malaysian plantation firm Felda Global Venture Holdings Bhd will launch its initial public offering on Malaysia's stock exchange on May 10, state news agency Bernama cited a senior government official as saying today.

A deputy minister in the prime minister's department, Ahmad Maslan, was reported by Bernama as specifying the date for the IPO, which is expected to be the largest stock debut this year in Malaysia.

A source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters the IPO would raise as much as US$2 billion and would take place in early May.

Felda Global, the business arm of the nation's federal land authority (FELDA), is an agri-business company focused on palm oil, rubber and sugar cane processing and cultivation.

The proposed IPO has courted some political controversy because the land authority is also responsible for the welfare of FELDA settlers, ethnic Malays who receive aid in the form of land from the government. -- Reuters