Sime Darby placement oversubscribed

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Sime Darby Bhd’s proposed placement, the biggest primary placement in Southeast Asia in almost three years, has received overwhelming demand of over RM6.2 billion from institutional investors for shares of the multinational conglomerate.

In a statement today, Sime Darby said following an accelerated bookbuilding process, the group placed out new shares at RM7.45 or a 3.0 per cent discount to the 5-day volume weighted average price of RM7.6796. 

It said the exercise involved the offer of 316.35 million new shares of Sime Darby.

Sime Darby president and group chief executive Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said the placement exercise will raise a total of RM2.36 billion for Sime Darby.

“This is a major milestone in Sime Darby’s deleveraging exercise, which will reduce the debt to equity ratio to about 38 per cent,” said Mohd Bakke.

Sime Darby is the world’s biggest producer of certified sustainable palm oil and is a key player in the industrial equipment and motors businesses in the Asia Pacific region. It is also one of the largest property developers in Malaysia and a leading port operator in China’s Shandong province.

Sime Darby will use the proceeds to repay borrowings, fund capital expenditure and working capital as well as to pay for the placement expenses. — theedgemarkets.com

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