SHAH ALAM, March 16 — Top Glove Corporation Berhad, the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer today signed an unsecured syndicated facility valued at US$ 310 million (RM1.2 billion) with a consortium of eight banks.
The facility was to finance its RM1.37 billion acquisition of Aspion Sdn Bhd, which is one of the largest surgical glove producers globally.
Citibank Malaysia was the lead arranger for the facility. The strong response from investors resulted in an oversubscription for the facility at 2.5 times the facility size.
The US$310 million facility was made up of a US$155 million two-year term loan and a US$155 million five year murabaha was signed by the executive chairman of Top Glove, Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai and the chief executive officer of Citibank Malaysia's Lee Lung Nien together with the representatives of the other participating banks.
“This acquisition of Aspion marks the largest mergers and acquisition (M&A) exercise that we have undertaken since the inception of the company. This facility underscores the confidence in our business prospects and growth strategy,” said Lim during the signing ceremony.
“The large investor interest in the syndication reflects the strong liquidity and demand for Malaysian credit from global investors. This landmark transaction by Top Glove underscores the great potential and opportunity for Malaysian companies to raise cost effective financing. It was indeed a combination of best expertise and the able leadership of Top Glove that has made today possible,” Lee of Citibank Malaysia said.
The acquisition of Aspion will make Top Glove the global leader in surgical gloves manufacturing and cementing its position as the world largest manufacturer of gloves.
At 12.30pm. Top Glove was trading at RM9.76, down 9 sen with 1.11 million shares traded.
