UPDATE 1-Malaysia’s Farm Fresh shares up 26% at debut of $238 mln IPO

Adds comments from group managing director, detail

By Liz Lee

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Reuters) – Shares in Malaysian dairy producer Farm Fresh Berhad FARM.KL opened 26% higher than the offer price at its market debut on Tuesday, in the country’s largest listing since July last year.

Shares in the company, which raised 1 billion ringgit ($237.64 million) in its initial public offering (IPO), rose as high as 34% in the first few minutes of trading.

Credit reporting firm, CTOS Digital Bhd CTOS.KL, had launched a 1.2 billion ringgit IPO last July. nL1N2OV05L

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Loi Tuan Ee said Farm Fresh will use proceeds raised to establish a new manufacturing hub, a dairy farm and an integrated processing facility in Malaysia, as well as expanding its Australian production facility and venture into neighbouring regions.

“Our listing today is a great milestone in our journey towards becoming a regional player,” he said.

Farm Fresh plans to export to Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The company said last month it had secured a record number of cornerstone investors in a Malaysian IPO, with 30 local and regional asset management firms, insurers and funds such as AIA, JPMorgan Asset Management and the Employees Provident Fund.

CIMB Investment Bank was the sole principal adviser and joint global coordinator on the deal.

(Reporting by Liz Lee
Editing by Ed Davies)

((liz.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +603 23338008; Twitter: @livinglizly;))