KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Home improvement retailer MR DIY Group (M) Bhd, which aims to raise RM1.5 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) exercise, is set to make its debut on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market on October 26,

The largest IPO for 2020 was set at RM1.60 per share, chief executive officer Adrian Ong told a virtual press conference following the prospectus launch in Petaling Jaya today.

He said the company's performance remained resilient after the Covid-19-induced movement control order, hence offering opportunities for the company to revive the IPO.

For the first half year ended June 30 this year, the company sales stood at RM1.051 billion compared to RM1.097 billion in the same period of 2019.

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For the full year in 2019, sales jumped to RM2.28 billion from RM1.77 billion in 2018.

The largest home improvement retailer in Malaysia, with an estimated market share of 29.1 per cent in 2019, aims to increase the number of stores to 900 by 2021 from 593 as of December 31, 2019.

It plans to open 307 over two years, comprising of 200 “MR DIY,”, 47 “MR TOY” and 60 “MR DOLLAR” stores.

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Of the total current outlets, four are in Brunei.

MR DIY’s IPO comprises an offer for sale of up to 753.09 million existing shares and a public issue of 188.40 million new shares.

The retail offering comprises 161.53 million shares, of which 125.53 million shares will be available for application by the Malaysian public and 36 million shares are reserved for application by directors, employees and persons who have contributed to the success of the group.

The institutional offering is up to 779.96 million shares, of which 470.75 million shares are allocated to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

The remaining 309.21 million shares will be to Malaysian institutional and selected investors (other than Bumiputera investors approved by the MITI), foreign institutional/selected investors outside the United States and qualified institutional buyers in the US.

The IPO has received support from some of the world’s notable investors, including Aberdeen Standard, AIA, BlackRock, FIL Investment Management, JPMorgan Asset Management and Pictet Asset Management.

The cornerstone investors make up 76 per cent of the institutional offering tranche (excluding shares offered to Bumiputera investors approved by MITI).

MR DIY will raise about RM301.4 million from the public issue of 188.4 million new shares for the company, of which RM276.1 million will be used to repay bank borrowings.

On listing, its market capitalisation is projected to hit RM10 billion.

The company has also adopted a dividend policy that targets to return 40 per cent of its earnings to shareholders. — Bernama