Malaysia equity house

IFR Asia Awards 2014
3 min read
Asia
S Anuradha

In a market where share placements depend so heavily on domestic investors, Credit Suisse was hardly the obvious choice for Malaysian companies looking to list their equity or top up their capital. The bank, however, used its local network and international expertise in 2014 to offer new options to its clients and challenge the dominance of the local arrangers.

Credit Suisse featured on the two largest Malaysian IPOs during IFR’s review period, as well as the biggest follow-on offering and two of the three biggest rights issues.

Since 2012, when Malaysia made its name in the global IPO market with mega IPOs of Felda Global Ventures, IHH Healthcare and Astro Malaysia, Credit Suisse has been steadily increasing its share in the business.

While overall volume in the Malaysian IPO market fell this year, Credit Suisse had a particularly fruitful year, surpassing other foreign banks and giving the local lenders a good run for their money.

It managed the M$1.2bn (US$345m) float of Boustead Plantation and the M$1.1bn IPO of Icon Offshore.

Credit Suisse’s Boustead mandate was particularly remarkable, as the bank managed to secure a joint global co-ordinator role for an IPO that was sold only to domestic investors, underlining its significant local visibility.

The Icon Offshore IPO, on the other hand, showcased Credit Suisse’s ability, as an international bank, to add value to local issuers. Cornerstone investors took up 54% of the float, while the Swiss bank brought in the sole foreign investor on board.

These mandates are no accident: Credit Suisse has been present in Malaysia for the last 15 years, and its strong equity research and stock-broking franchise have helped grow its equity capital markets footprint.

Its book of business was also not limited to IPOs. Credit Suisse was joint bookrunner in CIMB’s M$3.6bn primary placement at the start of 2014, the largest equity deal from Malaysia during the review period and the country’s largest since Maybank’s US$1.2bn offer in October 2012.

It was also a bookrunner on Malaysia Airports’ US$299m placement and a US$201m Bumi Armada block that was linked to a separate rights issue.

Bumi Armada shareholder Objectif Bersatu was selling the shares to fund its rights entitlement for the M$1.98bn Bumi Armada rights offer, on which Credit Suisse was a joint global co-ordinator.

The bank was also joint underwriter on Affin Holdings’ M$1.2bn rights offer. The deal was sold at the tightest discount of 20% to the theoretical ex-rights price since January 2008 for a rights issue greater than US$300m. Affin was a repeat client for Credit Suisse, having worked on the IPO of parent company Boustead Plantations.

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