Malaysia's Lotte Chemical Titan to relaunch IPO at lower price

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Sdn Bhd will relaunch its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday at a lower price than initially targeted due to weak investor appetite, three sources familiar with the deal said.

The IPO, set to be Malaysia's biggest in five years, will likely be launched at 6.50 ringgit per share, raising 4.81 billion ringgit ($1.12 billion), the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the process is private.

The offering was earlier expected to price in the 7.60-8 ringgit per share range, raising up to $1.4 billion. The IPO involves a planned sale of 740.4 million shares.

Lotte Chemical Titan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One source said the IPO will be relaunched "to add more quality names to enhance the book."

Another source said concerns over the company's valuation also created some hurdles.

"At 8 ringgit, the offering was seen as overvalued by the investment community," the second source said.

Earlier this month, Permodalan Nasional, Eastspring Investments, Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia, Maybank Asset Management and Maybank Islamic Asset Management had signed on as cornerstone investors for the IPO.

The integrated petrochemical producer, which is targetting a July IPO on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange, is wholly owned by South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp.

The firm had originally planned the IPO for last year but held it off after South Korea began investigating its parent company Lotte Group for alleged wrongdoing.

Maybank, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan are joint global coordinators for the IPO. Bookrunners are Nomura, HSBC and CIMB.

Lotte Chemical Titan is involved in the manufacturing and sales of petrochemical products. The IPO proceeds will be used to build a naphtha cracker in Indonesia and expand the cracker in Malaysia.

Appetite for IPOs in Malaysia had shrunk on the back of a weak currency and volatile commodities markets, but the market saw a revival earlier this year with the listings of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and Eco World International Bhd .

Other deals reportedly in the pipeline include fast food operator QSR Brands looking to raise about $500 million and Edra Energy targeting $500 million to $1 billion. - Reuters