CIMB shares hit new high

CIMB Group plans for a dual listing in Thailand next year that will boost its profile to investors and the public in the region

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (1023) shares rose to a new record yesterday after it announced plans for a dual listing in Thailand next year that will boost its regional profile.

The stock rose 2.8 per cent to close at RM13.28, which led the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI to end 0.6 per cent higher at 1,278.31 points.

CIMB is set to become the first foreign company to float shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) after regulators there approved last month a set of new guidelines for foreign listings that will take effect on December 1.

CIMB plans to offer 35 million shares to retail and institutional investors in an initial public offering that may raise up to RM452.2 million based on its current share price.

The listing is expected to be completed by the end of June next year, subject to approvals from its shareholders and regulators in both countries.

"This move amplifies our commitment to Thailand," CIMB group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said in a joint press statement with the SET in Bangkok yesterday.

"The listing will enhance our profile to investors and the public in Thailand, making it easy for them to invest in the growth of a regional bank," Nazir said.

The SET has 476 listed companies worth a combined RM555.2 billion, compared with Bursa Malaysia's RM865.4 billion market value.

CIMB, with a market value of RM47.6 billion, will be among the top three companies on the SET and the largest financial services group when it is listed next year.

"The SET truly welcomes CIMB Group as our first foreign listing," the exchange's president Patareeya Benjapolchai said.

"The listing offers Thai investors a worthy alternative and will raise the profile of the Thai market in the eyes of global fund managers.

"We are ready to support the company in the listing process to realise its intention," she added.

CIMB already owns 93.2 per cent of the SET-listed CIMB Thai Bank plc after a purchase last year.

The Thai lender will stay listed on the exchange for now, its president and CEO Subhak Siwaraksa said.

"However, the group's proposed listing would be an opportune time for us to reconsider this in consultation with our shareholders."

Source: Business Times Online
By Chong Pooi Koon