Farm Price aims for RM24.5mil from IPO

From left: Farm Price Holdings Bhd executive director Shirley Liew Tsuey Er, Farm Price managing director Dr. Lawrence Tiong Lee Chian, Farm Price independent non-executive chairman Pauzi Yaman, Alliance Islamic Bank Bhd chief executive officer Rizal IL-Ehzan Fadil Azim and Alliance Islamic Bank senior vice president-cum-head of coverage & origination Lim Shueh Li.

KUALA LUMPUR: Farm Price Holdings Bhd aims to raise RM24.5mil from its initial public offering (IPO).

The group is set for a listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on May 14.

Managing director Tiong Lee Chian said it intended to use the proceeds for its expansion plans, with RM6.4mil earmarked for the construction of new facilities, RM2mil to purchase machinery, equipment and logistic fleet, RM1.6mil for its regional distribution and procurement centre, RM10.58mil for working capital and the remainder for listing expenses.

He said the group is mulling the expansion of its retail segment in Singapore due to the rising demand from the neighbouring country.

“As for now, we will double the size of our Senai centralised distribution centre in Johor to cater for the growing demand.

“We shall expand our value-added processing areas, purchase more machinery and equipment and grow our in-house transportation fleet to provide a fresher, faster and more convenient experience for our customers,” he said at the launch of Farm Price’s prospectus.

To expand its reach, he said the group would also establish new regional distribution centres with cold room facilities in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, and Cameron Highlands, Pahang, as well as setting up a sales and marketing office in Singapore.

Upon its listing, the fresh vegetable, food and beverage wholesaler and distributor will have a market capitalisation of RM108mil, based on an enlarged issued share capital of 450 million shares and an IPO price of 24 sen per share.

The listing exercise would include 102 million new ordinary shares in Farm Price, constituting 22.67% of the group’s enlarged share capital.

A private placement will also be conducted for the offer-for-sale of 33 million existing shares, equivalent to 7.33% of the enlarged shares.

Of the 102 million shares, 22.50 million are allocated for the public’s subscription via balloting; and 11.25 million shares for eligible directors, employees and persons who have contributed to the success of the group while the remaining 68.25 million shares are allotted for private placements to selected investors. — Bernama