KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Steel pole maker Mestron Holding Bhd’s initial public offering (IPO) for the public portion has been oversubscribed by 17.53 times.

A total of 5,720 applications for 731.97 million new shares valued at RM117.12 million were received from the Malaysian public for 39.50 million new shares made available for public subscription, the company said in a statement.

Under the listing exercise, Mestron has raised RM25.28 million from its public Issue of 158.0 million new shares at 16 sen per share of which 39.50 million were made available to the Malaysian public via balloting, 8.75 million for eligible directors and employees, 30.75 million by way of private placement to selected investors, while the remaining 79.0 million are earmarked for private placement to identified Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

Of the total IPO proceeds, RM13.0 million would be used to expand its main manufacturing facility and acquire more manufacturing machineries and equipment for future business growth.

Another RM5.18 million would be chanelled for working capital to purchase raw materials such as steel plates and steel pipes to support its capacity expansion, RM4 million to repay bank borrowings, and the remaining RM3.10 million to be used to defray listing expenses for the IPO.

Mestron’s listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad is tentatively scheduled for June 18. — Bernama