Mar 16, 2023

Thursday, 16 Mar 2023 KUALA LUMPUR: Eco-Shop Marketing Sdn Bhd, a budget retail chain in Malaysia, is weighing an initial public offering (IPO) in Kuala Lumpur that could raise as much as US$179mil (RM800mil), according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company, which is backed by private equity firm Creador Capital Group, is working with financial advisers on the planned first-time share sale, said the people, asking not to be identified as the process is private. A listing could take place as early as September, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and details such as size and timing of the IPO could still change, the people said. Representatives for Creador and Eco-Shop didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Should the IPO materialise, it would be the third first-time share sale by a Creador portfolio company since 2020 when the buyout firm listed home improvement chain MR DIY Group (M) Bhd in Kuala Lumpur. , another portfolio company of Creador, raised about RM1.2bil in an IPO in 2021. Any deal will help catalyse the Malaysian IPO market, which hosted only two offerings and raised US$76.7mil (RM343mil) in total so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Besides Eco-Shop, dietary supplement maker DXN Holdings Bhd, is also seeking to list on Bursa Malaysia this year. State-owned Johor Corp is working with advisers on a domestic listing of its plantation unit as soon as 2023, Bloomberg News has reported. — Bloomberg Article type: free