Evergreen Max inks underwriting agreement with Mercury Securities for ACE Market IPO

KUALA LUMPUR: Evergreen Max Cash Capital Bhd has entered into an underwriting agreement with Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd for an initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The pawnbroking service provider’s IPO will involve a public issue of 267.6 million new shares in Evergreen, representing 25% of its enlarged issued shares and an offer for sales of 43 million existing shares or 3.9% of its enlarged issued shares, to selected investors by way of placement.

Out of the 267.6 million new shares, 55.7 million will be made available to the Malaysian public via balloting; 27.9 million shares for its eligible directors and employees as well as persons who contributed to the success of the group.

A further 44.6 million shares will be issued by way of placement to selected investors, while the remaining 139.4 million shares have been earmarked for selected Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.

Mercury Securities has agreed to underwrite a total of 83.6 million shares made available to the Malaysian public and for the pink form allocations.

“The demand for pawnbroking services is expected to grow as it offers a faster solution for those who require immediate and short-term financial assistance as compared to getting a bank loan.

“In addition, our pawnbroking services fill the gap not served by financial institutions as our pawn loans offer an alternative for the unbanked and underbanked population by allowing them to convert their valuable personal items into cash in order to meet their funding needs,” said Evergreen executive director and group managing director Datuk Low Kok Chuan in a statement.

Evergreen is scheduled to be listed by September 2023, with Mercury Securities as the principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for its IPO.