Malakoff Plans US$1b Comeback To Bursa

Malakoff Corp Bhd, a unit of MMC Corp Bhd, will raise as much as US$1 billion (RM3 billion) from its proposed initial public offering (IPO), widely anticipated to be next year.

“I am not able to confirm the exact figure.

It will be within that range (US$1 billion),” Malakoff Corp chief executive officer (CEO) Zainal Abidin Jalil told reporters after the launch and rebranding of Malakoff Utilities Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malakof Corp Bhd,here yesterday.

He was asked to confirm a news report recently that the deal to relist Malakoff could raise as much as US$1 billion from the capital market.

Zainal Abidin, however, declined to elaborate further on the proposal, saying that the company is tied to the Securities Commission’s rules and guidelines.

“Under the Securities Commission’s rules and guidelines, we are not allowed to disclose a lot of details on the IPO plan and scheme.

“But I can confirm that Malakoff is working towards listing sometime next year. This very much works in progress and so we are very much on schedule. We should (be) coming back as a public-listed company next year,” he said.

Malakoff, the biggest independent power producer, was listed on Bursa Malaysia (then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) in 1976. It was delisted in July 2007 after a privatisation offer in May 2006 by its single largest shareholder, MMC Corp.

Zainal Abidin said Malakoff’s relisting will not be as big as the listings of IHH Healthcare Bhd (IHH) and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), but will still be significant.

“It would be quite a significant listing, but at this time, I cannot divulge a lot of details. It’s not going to be as big as IHH or Felda, but it is quite significant,” he said.

FGV, Asia’s biggest IPO since February last year and the world’s second biggest so far this year, raised US$9.93 billion (about RM30 billion) on June 28, based on an institutional price of RM4.55 per share and a fixed retail price of RM4.45 per share.

The second largest IPO was that of IHH, which raised over RM6 billion in Malaysia and Singapore on July 3. Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd issued the the third largest IPO so far this year, raising RM4.6 billion on September 21.

Apart from power generation, the company’s core activity, Zainal Abidin said Malakoff is also looking at growing other businesses such as in electrical distribution and centralised chilled water plants.

“This is why we have decided to launch and rebrand Malakoff Utilities. We expect the electrical distribution and centralised chilled-water business to contribute about 50 per cent to Malakoff Utilities’ revenue this year,” he said.

Formerly known as Wirazone Sdn Bhd, Malakoff Utilities was incorporated in 2001 to undertake the development of an electrical distribution system and centralised chilled-water plant within Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

Recently, the firm signed chilled-water supply agreements with 348 Sentral Sdn Bhd, Excellent Bonanza Sdn Bhd and NU Sentral Sdn Bhd, the developers of mixed development projects within KL Sentral.

“This underscores its solid track record and expertise. With this contract, Malakoff Utilities is set to boost its current centralised chilled water plant’s capacity from 7,000 to 17,000 refrigerant tonnes to meet the growing needs at KL Sentral," Zainal Abidin said, adding that the company has about 1,600 customers within KL Sentral.

Moving forward, he said Malakoff Utilities is looking at expanding its expertise in electrical distribution and centralised chilled water plants in as well as outside KL.

“We are looking at major development areas with big complexes, such as those promoted by Naza, and also the development of Iskandar Malaysia, Johor. For instance, we have put in our bid for the project promoted by Naza in Kuala Lumpur. It was an open tender and a very competitive bidding.”

Zainal Abidin believed that Malakoff Utilities has submitted the best technical and commercial proposal for the project.

- BTimes