Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”) today hosted an IPO Sharing session for participants from the BioNexus status and Bio-economy group of companies. The event was organised in collaboration with the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (“BiotechCorp”) with the aim of providing owners and entrepreneurs of these companies, a better understanding and appreciation of the benefits of listing on Bursa Malaysia as well as the process involved. Also present to share their listing journey was, Bioalpha Holdings Berhad (“Bioalpha”), a BioNexus success story that recently made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia in April this year. Bioalpha raised RM20 million and was 32.19 times oversubscribed.
Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “Since 2011, we have collaborated with various parties such as the SME Corporation Malaysia and Unit Peneraju Bumiputera (“TERAJU”), to create awareness amongst private firms and promote listing as an avenue for them to meet their funding and business expansion needs as well as a platform to enhance their visibility globally. Ultimately, the Exchange wishes to play a more prominent role in supporting the Government’s nation building efforts with regard to developing and accelerating the growth of our small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) including those are in the new economic growth sectors like biotechnology and bio-based industries. We look forward to welcoming more companies with growth prospect to join our marketplace.”
Dato’ Dr. Mohd Nazlee Kamal, Chief Executive Officer of BiotechCorp said, ”As the leading agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) to spearhead the development of the bio-based industry in Malaysia, BiotechCorp facilitates companies to bring high-impact innovation and technology to the international level.
A listing of bio-based companies on Bursa Malaysia would strengthen Malaysia's presence in the bio-based industry and reinforce the country’s market position in the Asia Pacific region, not to mention that it will also help to further develop local bio-based companies. The IPO can act as a platform for companies to access the capital market for fund raising and enhance their profile and visibility and we hope to see more bio-based companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.”
“In gauging the potential for the sector, the performance of BioNexus status companies have been encouraging. As at December 2014, the investment made and revenue generated by BioNexus status companies are approximately RM3 billion and RM1.3 billion respectively. We are targeting 5 potential BioNexus status companies to go for listing in the next 2 to 5 years,” said Dato’ Dr. Mohd Nazlee Kamal.
“Currently, we have over 903 companies representing 60 economic activities[1] listed on Bursa Malaysia. In addition to the marketplace’s sector leadership in areas such as palm oil, oil and gas, logistics and banking[2], our public listed companies (“PLCs”) are indeed among the best in the world. This is evidenced by the latest Forbes Annual Global 2000 ranking of the world’s biggest and most powerful PLCs which saw 16 Malaysian firms[3] in the list. This is indeed a boost for our marketplace and we hope that the success stories of our PLCs will inspire the participants of today’s IPO Sharing session to take the first step and embark on their own IPO journey to unlock their potential,” Dato’ Tajuddin concluded.
The Exchange will also be conducting some pre-IPO clinic sessions to provide more in-depth discussions for companies that are interested to find out more details relating to listing matters. The pre-IPO clinic sessions serve to help companies to assess their readiness for listing and to identify any issues that need to be addressed at an early stage to ensure the robust preparation process can start early.
[1] Source: Bursa Malaysia as at 20 May 2015
[2] Source: CIMB Research & Bursa Malaysia data, 2014
[3] Source: “16 Msian firms in Forbes’ List’, Starbiz, The Star – 8 May 2015