MMC Ports to file for biggest IPO since 2012
MMC Ports could seek to raise about US$2bil in a share sale as soon as September.
KUALA LUMPUR: MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd is pressing ahead with its planned listing in Malaysia, according to people familiar with the matter, in what could be the biggest local initial public offering (IPO) in more than a decade.
The port operator, owned by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, has confidentially filed listing documents with regulators and is awaiting approval to post a draft prospectus, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private.
MMC Ports could seek to raise about US$2bil in a share sale as soon as September, the people said.
The planned listing could value the company at as much as US$7bil, some of the people said.
Considerations are ongoing and details including size and timing may change, the people said, adding that MMC Ports could also decide against an IPO.
Representatives for MMC Ports and parent MMC Corp Bhd didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Bloomberg News reported in October that MMC Ports was working with financial advisers on an IPO plan.
The company runs seven ports along the Straits of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and is the biggest such operator in Malaysia, according to its website.
It also operates three cruise terminals.
The potential IPO could be the biggest since plantation group FGV Holdings Bhd raised more than RM10bil or US$2.4bil in 2012. — Bloomberg Trading ideas: TNB, Sports Toto, Cypark, Aeon Credit, HSS, Gas Malaysia, Green Ocean, UEM Sunrise, Destini, Citaglobal, ATA IMS, RHB, Sapura Energy, Ajinomoto, SNS, iCents
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