Wilmar's Kuok rides cooking oil dominance to a record China IPO

KUOK Khoon Hong has pulled off a remarkable second act. The billionaire sold shares of his China business in the biggest ever initial public offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, thanks to the most popular cooking oil brand in the country.

Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings' share price more than doubled in its first-day on the ChiNext board after the IPO raised 13.9 billion yuan (S$2.8 billion). Its namesake cooking oil with a Golden Dragon Fish logo has been a staple of Chinese kitchens for decades and fuelled demand 3,499 times the amount of shares offered to retail investors online.

After starting production in 1991 from the mainland's first packed oil production line, the unit of Mr Kuok's Wilmar International now has 40 per cent of a Chinese edible oil market that consumes almost 40 million tonnes annually. The IPO came just three years after the country opened doors for foreign firms to invest in the oilseeds crushing sector, allowing global powerhouses such as Bunge and Cargill to take on local rivals including Arawana and state-run Cofco.