KUALA LUMPUR (June 14): Pekat Group Bhd, a solar photovoltaic (PV), earthing and lightning protection (ELP) specialist, saw 32.2 million of its shares under the public portion of its initial public offering (IPO) oversubscribed by 76 times ahead of its listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.

In a statement today, Pekat said it received 34,964 applications for 2.5 billion shares during the public subscription period from June 2 to 10.

It recorded RM794.5 million for shares worth RM10.3 million under the public portion, with the issue price at 32 sen apiece.

“The RM794.5 million subscription amount received was the highest since 2019, surpassing the previous records set by Volcano Bhd and Flexidynamic Holdings Bhd, which pulled in RM512.8 million and RM444.9 million respectively, in subscription earlier this year,” it said.

“The Bumiputra portion of shares was oversubscribed 44 times after a total of 13,168 applications for 725.5 million shares were received.

“Meanwhile, 21,795 applications for the remaining public portion amounting to 1.8 billion shares were received, representing an oversubscription rate of 108 times.

“The 16.1 million new shares for its eligible directors and employees, as well as persons who have contributed to the success of Pekat, had also been fully subscribed,” the company noted.

The private placement and offer shares to selected investors and identified bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has been fully placed out as well, it added.

Under the IPO exercise, Pekat had issued 138.7 million new shares representing approximately 21.5% of the enlarged share capital.

Pekat raised RM44.4 million from the exercise, of which RM18 million will be used for the construction of a new head office and operational facilities as the company expands its operations in an attempt to take advantage of the upcoming growth in the solar PV industry.

The company said it will utilise RM12.7 million for working capital requirements in particular for the purchase of materials for its projects, RM10 million to repay bank borrowings while the remaining RM3.7 million is to be used to defray IPO listing expenses.

M&A Securities Sdn Bhd managing director of corporate finance Datuk Bill Tan said the strong demand for green energy-focused companies reflects the shift in investor sentiment towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) companies.

“M&A is indeed pleased to be able to help Pekat in its listing and we also strongly believe in the growth of Pekat and its niche in green energy especially solar power,” he said.

Pekat’s listing on the ACE Market is tentatively scheduled for June 23.

M&A Securities is the adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for the IPO exercise.