By Liz Lee
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian credit reporting firm CTOS Digital Bhd has secured more than 20 cornerstone investors for its planned public market debut next month, including AIA Group Ltd and Aberdeen Standard Investments, two sources familiar with the deal said.
Other funds signed on for what is set to be Malaysia’s biggest initial public offering so far this year are Fidelity International, Eastspring Investments and other local asset managers, including two of the largest government-linked funds.
Bloomberg reported earlier that the company was in talks to sign up these investors as cornerstone shareholders.
The credit information and analytics solutions provider could price its IPO at 1.10 ringgit per share, one of the sources said, helping it raise 1.2 billion ringgit ($290 million) and valuing the company at 2.4 billion ringgit.
The other source said the IPO had also attracted domestic and foreign institutional investors that are first-time cornerstone investors in a Malaysian IPO.
“Level of interest in this cornerstone round is astounding,” the source said.
CTOS is expected to file its IPO prospectus by the end of this month, the sources added.
CTOS, AIA, Aberdeen Standard, Fidelity and Eastspring did not immediately respond to requests for comment after working hours.
Reuters reported last month that the IPO had attracted commitments from foreign and local institutions early on in the process.
The sources had said some investors in the Mr DIY Group IPO were keen to join the CTOS offering. Both Mr DIY and CTOS come from private equity firm Creador’s stable.
Creador, which owns 80% of CTOS, took Mr DIY public in a 1.5 billion ringgit IPO last year that has bolstered confidence in CTOS’ offering.
Creador did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
($1 = 4.1380 ringgit)
(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Mark Potter)
