Malaysian satellite broadcaster Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd is looking to sell up to 1.52 billion shares in an initial public offering that could raise more than $1.5 billion, according to an article by Jason Ng on the Wall Street Journal.
The Malaysian stock market has already seen the world’s second and third largest stock offerings of 2012 by plantation company Felda Global Ventures in June and hospital operator IHH in July. Ng wrote that Astro’s offering is one of several big deals in the works making Malaysia one of the world’s hottest IPO markets this year.
“Port owner Westports Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. hopes to raise $1 billion from an IPO, people familiar with the matter said earlier this week, while power company Malakoff Corp. Bhd. is planning a $1 billion deal.
Astro dominates Malaysia’s satellite and pay-television markets, reaching millions of homes with more than 150 different channels. Astro is partly owned by tycoon Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia’s second-richest man, and the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government, Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
According to the Ng, Astro plans to sell 1.26 billion shares in the institutional portion of its offering and 259.9 million shares in the retail portion. “The total represents 29.2% of its share capital. Astro hopes to launch the deal between late September and early October, people familiar with the IPO said earlier.”
Is Astro’s IPO a hot stock to purchase once it goes public? What do you think?
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