KUALA LUMPUR: The public portion of Carimin Petroleum Bhd's initial public offering (IPO), comprising 11.7 million shares, was oversubscribed by 22.1 times.

A total of 13,421 applications for 269.7 million shares were received from the public, said the offshore oil and gas (O&G) support services provider in a statement yesterday.

The company will be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on November 10.

Managing director Mokhtar Hashim said the oversubscription demonstrated the investing public's strong confidence in Carimin's growth prospects despite the current volatility in the oil and gas sector.

"Carimin's listing is a key milestone that grants us access to capital for capacity-building, to better execute ongoing projects and strengthen our technical capabilities.

"At the same time, being a listed entity backed by a strong track record will boost our profile for future tenders," he said.

Carimin's IPO entails a public issue of 60.7 million new ordinary shares and an offer-for-sale of 5.9 million shares at RM1.10 apiece.

The IPO is expected to raise
RM66.8 million in proceeds for the group.

Of this, RM35.3 million will be used for the purchase of an accommodation workboat and RM12 million for upgrading the group's fabrication yard in Kemaman.

In addition, RM8 million will be for repayment of bank borrowings, RM8 million for working capital and RM3.5 million to defray listing expenses. Bernama