Prolintas seeks to raise RM445.3mil from listing of highway business trust

KUALA LUMPUR: Highway operator Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) aims to raise RM445.3 million via the initial public offering (IPO) of its highway business trust Prolintas Infra Business Trust (Prolintas Infra BT).

Prolintas Infra BT, which is en route to a listing on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market on March 25, 2024, will be the nation’s first listed business trust.

In a statement, Prolintas said the IPO exercise encompasses the listing via a business trust structure of its four key matured highways, namely Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway, Guthrie Corridor Expressway, Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway, and Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway.

Prolintas Infra BT’s IPO involves an offer for sale by Prolintas of 539 million existing units in Prolintas Infra BT (assuming the over-allotment option is fully exercised), representing 49 per cent of the total units in issue at 95 sen apiece.

“As Prolintas Infra BT will not be issuing any new units for the IPO, the trust will not receive any proceeds from the IPO,” it said in a statement in conjunction with the prospectus launch today.

The total gross proceeds from the offer for sale based on the institutional price of up to about RM445.3 million will accrue entirely to the selling unitholder, Prolintas.

The application period of Prolintas Infra BT’s IPO starts today and will close at 5pm on March 12, 2024.

Prolintas said of the institutional offering of up to 422.95 million shares, 285.45 million shares will be allocated to institutional and selected investors, excluding bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI).

“Up to 137.50 million units are reserved for bumiputera investors approved by MITI, while the remaining offering of up to 45.75 million shares will be made available for application by the Malaysian public via balloting, followed by 18.25 million shares which are reserved for application by the eligible persons,” it added.

The market capitalisation of the trust would potentially reached RM1.05 billion upon listing.

According to the prospectus, there are eight cornerstone investors involved, namely Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), AHAM Asset Management Bhd, AIIMAN Asset Management Sdn Bhd, Lembaga Tabung Haji, Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd, Maybank Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd, Kenanga Investors Berhad, and Kenanga Islamic Investors Bhd.

Datuk Ikmal Hijaz Hashim, chairman of the trustee-manager Prolintas Managers Sdn Bhd, said the exercise aims to diversify Prolintas’s funding sources, and to position the company to embark on future strategic infrastructure initiatives.

“Simultaneously, it presents an attractive opportunity for investors to participate in Prolintas’s continued growth trajectory,” he said at the prospectus launch ceremony.

AmInvestment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser for the IPO as well as the joint bookrunner and underwriter with CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. RHB Investment Bank Bhd is also a joint underwriter. – BK