Maxis Communications Bhd, the country's dominant mobile operator, plans to list its Malaysian business, Maxis Bhd (Maxis Malaysia), in the year's most anticipated initial public offering (IPO).
The listing is set to be the country's biggest since 1995, estimated at US$2 billion (RM7 billion), according to Reuters.
Maxis Malaysia will not be issuing new shares, but will offer 2.25 billion shares, representing 30 per cent of its existing share capital.
Some 92 per cent, or 207.5 billion shares, will be offered to institutional investors, and the rest to retail investors.
In a prospectus exposure on the Securities Commission's website yesterday, Maxis Malaysia said the listing will give the company the financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities and enhance its profile, among other things.
"The exercise could help its main shareholders (Maxis) to fund the group's Indian investments," an analyst from a local research house said.
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Upon completion of the IPO, Maxis' stake in Maxis Malaysia will be reduced to 70 per cent.
Tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan currently controls 75 per cent of Maxis, while Saudi Telecom Co owns the balance.
Maxis Malaysia, which registered RM1.14 billion net profit in the first half of this year, plans to return 75 per cent of its 2010 net profit as dividend.
"Until the IPO price is out, I can't tell whether the IPO is attractive or not. Without the IPO price, we can't calculate the yield based on dividend policy alone," another analyst said when contacted.
The offer price will be determined after a bookbuilding exercise. CIMB, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are joint bookrunners for the IPO.
Maxis Malaysia, according to the draft prospectus, saw net profit rise 21.23 per cent to RM2.4 billion last year. In the first half of this year, its net profit declined 9.4 per cent.
Revenue rose 9.8 per cent to RM8.45 billion last year. In the first half of 2009, it was up 4.3 per cent to RM4.24 billion.
In the six months to June 2009, it had 11.42 million subscribers comprising 8.52 million prepaid, 2.73 million post-paid and 171,200 wireless broadband users.
The IPO is expected to help boost the local stock market as it would add to the number of large companies and help in efforts to woo more foreign shareholders.
Analysts and investors have been closely monitoring Maxis developments after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in a media briefing during a working visit to Saudi Arabia some two months back, suggested that it be relisted to help attract investors to Bursa Malaysia.
Maxis was valued at some RM40 billion before it was taken private in 2007 by Ananda.
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