Malaysian satellite pay-TV company Astro Malaysia has priced its forthcoming IPO on the Bursa Malaysia at MR3 per share, at the top of the MR2.70 – 3 indicative range.
The pricing means that Astro will raise approximately MR4.55bn (US$1.49bn) from its…
Malaysian satellite pay-TV company Astro Malaysia has priced its forthcoming IPO on the Bursa Malaysia at MR3 per share, at the top of the MR2.70 – 3 indicative range.
The pricing means that Astro will raise approximately MR4.55bn (US$1.49bn) from its listing, which is due to take place on 19 October 2012. Proceeds from the new shares are predominantly going to be used to repay existing debt and for cap-ex requirements.
According to the listing prospectus, Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad (Astro Malaysia) is offering up to 1,518,300,000 ordinary shares, which is equivalent to 29.2% of the enlarged share capital of the company. The offering comprises a public issue of 474,300,000 new ordinary shares and an offer for sale of up to 1,044,000,000 existing shares.
Of these, 1,258,435,000 shares, representing 24.2% of the enlarged company, have been offered to institutional investors and 259,865,000, representing 5%, to retail investors.
The institutional offering began on 20 September and closed on 3 October 2012. Prior to its commencement, a number of cornerstone investors had already agreed to acquire 430 million shares, or a third of the offering. These investors included Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Standard Pacific Capital, Great Eastern Life Assurance, Corston-Smith Asset Management, Nomura Asset Management and Universities Superannuation Scheme.
Applications for the retail offering commenced on 21 September and closed on 1 October with balloting taking place on 4 October.
Commenting on the listing, the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who officiated the launch, said: “This is widely expected to be amongst the world’s biggest listings in 2012, confirming Malaysia’s reputation as one of the best and brightest destinations for investment – a safe haven for capital, with businesses and exchanges that are thriving despite global uncertainty. I believe success for Malaysia, in this generation and the next, means opening up access to information, and helping new media businesses to follow the same ambitious growth model as those that went before.”
Indeed, three of the four biggest Asian IPOs in 2012 have been on the Bursa Malaysia, with agri-commodities company Felda Global Ventures raising approximately US$3.1bn in June and then Asia’s biggest hospital operator IHH Healthcare netting just over US$2bn a month later. One analyst pointed to the stabilising role that cornerstone investors have played in the success of these listings.
Astro, which is controlled by Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan, dominates the Malaysian pay-TV market with over 3 million residential pay-TV subscribers and a market penetration of approximately 50% of TV households.
The company was delisted in 2010 after Krishnan made a US$758m offer to purchase the 27.1% he did not already own, valuing the company at US$2.5bn. The strategy behind the privatisation was to speed up investments in Asia without the need for shareholder approval.
CIMB is the transaction manager for the IPO, while the joint principal advisers are Maybank, RHB and CIMB.
Joint global coordinators for the transaction are CIMB, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, MIB and UBS. The joint Bookrunners comprise the joint global coordinators as well as Citigroup, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Macquarie Capital, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and RHB.
