By Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE -MMC Port Holdings has hired CIMB and Maybank to work on an initial public offering (IPO) in Malaysia that could raise more than 6 billion ringgit ($1.34 billion), two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
RHB and UBS have also been asked to help prepare the IPO, two further sources said.
The IPO, which would be Malaysia’s biggest in more than a decade, was expected to take place either in the second half of this year, or in 2026. It would likely value MMC Port at more than 25 billion ringgit, the sources said.
More banks are also expected to be brought in, the first source said. All four sources declined to be named as the matter was private.
MMC did not respond to emails from Reuters seeking comment.
CIMB said it did not “disclose or comment on specific names or clients”. Maybank and RHB said they were unable to comment. UBS said it had no comment.
The IPO, if it happens, could be Malaysia’s biggest since private hospital operator IHH Healthcare Bhd’s $2.1 billion listing in 2012.
It adds to a growing pipeline of IPOs in Malaysia, which was the biggest IPO market in Southeast Asia last year.
The total value of Malaysian IPOs more than doubled to $1.64 billion in 2024 from $724.3 million in the same period a year earlier, according to LSEG data.
MMC Ports is Malaysia’s largest port operator and is a wholly owned unit of MMC Corp, a utilities and infrastructure group controlled by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, according to its website.
It operates five ports across the Malaysian peninsular, a statement dated Dec. 3 last year showed.
All are located along the Straits of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
MMC Ports’ businesses also include a solid product jetty terminal in Johor, ship-to-ship transfer services in Port of Yan in Kedah, and cruise terminals in Penang, Port Klang and Langkawi, the statement said.
($1 = 4.4860 ringgit)
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Barbara Lewis)
