PETALING JAYA: Budget retailer Eco-Shop Marketing Sdn Bhd and Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, which runs bubble tea chain Tealive, are aiming to go public next year as their private equity backer Creador Capital Group looks to build on its record of successful exits in Malaysia.
Eco-Shop is in the midst of finalising its first-time share sale and is looking at listing in the second quarter of 2024, with Tealive scheduled for sometime in the final three months of next year, according to Creador CEO Brahmal Vasudevan.
“Eco-Shop does sales of close to RM2.2 billion a year, with profits well north of RM100 million, so that should be a good listing,” Brahmal said in an interview at his office in Kuala Lumpur.
Eco-Shop will be the third Creador-backed company to list on Bursa Malaysia since 2020, following debuts by home improvement chain Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd and credit bureau CTOS Digital Bhd.
The listing may provide a further impetus to Malaysia’s initial public offering market, which hosted US$512 million (RM2.33 billion) of first-time share sales so far this year, up about 8% from a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Pet food maker picks Bursa Malaysia
Creador has also convinced its latest portfolio company – Malaysian pet food maker Pet World International – to pick Bursa Malaysia over Singapore’s exchange as its listing venue, as the country remains a “very good” IPO market, Brahmal said.
“We have a lot of captive capital, valuation multiples are good and there’s high demand from our local institutions.
“We’ve demonstrated that Malaysia is a good market for companies that have a good growth proposition,” he said.
The 21 IPO stocks that debuted in Kuala Lumpur this year delivered an average gain of 49% since listing, more than twice the average increase for listings in Southeast Asia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The consolidation of Caring Pharmacy and Creador-backed Big Pharmacy will take a year, after Big Pharmacy bought Caring for RM637.5 million last month.
Combined annual sales volume for both chains is estimated at RM2.5 billion and a listing will be pursued sometime in 2025 or 2026.
Brahmal said Creador has raised US$2.15 billion (RM9.77 billion) since its inception in 2011, and invested about US$2 billion (RM9.09 billion). The fund has returned about 20% annually in dollar terms to investors.
The buyout firm has divided about 70% of its capital evenly between Malaysia and India, and its investors include development banks, family offices, university endowments and insurance companies. - FMT
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