SINGAPORE/KUALA
LUMPUR, June 14 (Reuters) - Sovereign
wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) will invest about $150 million in
Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare's planned $2 billion IPO in Kuala Lumpur and
Singapore, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.
The
investment is poised to make KIA the second-biggest investor in the Malaysian
healthcare firm's IPO. It will be the fund's biggest investment in an Asian
flotation since it poured $800 million into Agricultural Bank of China's $21
billion offering in 2010.
With a
heavy reliance on cornerstone investors and domestic demand, Malaysia has
bucked the dismal IPO trend in other markets such as Singapore, where motor
racing firm Formula One decided to delay its near $3 billion offering due to
volatile markets.
In the
latest blow to Asian deals, soccer club Manchester United also ditched its
plans for an Asian stock market flotation and is preparing to list in the
United States, IFR reported on Wednesday.
Cornerstone
investors back many Asian listings, committing to buy large, guaranteed stakes
and agreeing to a lock-up period during which they will not sell their shares.
BIG-TICKET
INVESTMENTS
KIA,
which manages $280 billion in assets, invests in big-ticket IPOs, but has been
lately keeping its powder dry amid volatile markets, banking sources have said
earlier.
Malaysia
pension fund EPF will separately invest about $200 million in the IHH IPO,
making it the biggest investor in the deal, said the sources, who could not be
named because the details of the deal are not public.
"These
two are the biggest cornerstone investors in IHH," one of the sources told
Reuters.
IHH
declined to comment. EPF and KIA could not be immediately reached for comment.
IHH
Healthcare, which is partly owned by state investor Khazanah Nasional Berhad,
is the country's second-biggest IPO this year after Felda Global Ventures
Holdings priced its $3.1 billion IPO late on Wednesday near the top of an
indicative range.
The IHH
IPO is expected to be priced in the second week of July and the listing is
scheduled in the week starting July 23, according to a term sheet seen by
Reuters.
IHH
this week already locked in BlackRock Inc, Capital Group and Och-Ziff Capital
Management Group as cornerstone investors for its dual listing, sources told
Reuters.
The
board of International Finance Corp (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank,
has also approved a proposal to become a cornerstone investor in IHH's
offering, a source said.
BUYING
SPREE
IHH has
been on an aggressive buying spree in the past few years. It now owns Turkish
hospital group Acibadem AS , Singapore's Parkway Holdings, India's Apollo
Hospitals Enterprise Ltd and Malaysia-based Pantai Hospitals and International
Medical University.
The
firm is offering 2.2 billion shares, out of which 80 percent will be new
shares. The sale amounts to some 25 percent of its enlarged capital.
CIMB,
Deutsche Bank and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch are the lead global
co-ordinators, with Credit Suisse, DBS, Goldman Sachs and Maybank acting as
joint bookrunners in the deal.
Nomura,
Singapore's OCBC and UBS are the co-lead managers.
Reuters
Business & Investment Opportunities
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