Top Glove plans to raise RM7.77b in Hong Kong listing

[KUALA LUMPUR] Top Glove, the world's biggest rubber glove maker, is seeking to raise as much as RM7.77 billion (S$2.55 billion) from a listing in Hong Kong to fund expansion and bolster its profile with overseas investors.

The company, whose shares are traded in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, plans to issue up to 1.49 billion shares at a price to be set at a later date, according to an exchange filing on Friday. At US$1 billion-plus, Top Glove's listing would be the biggest ever by a Malaysian company in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The dual primary listing plan, first reported by Bloomberg News in October, comes as medical glove makers face heavy selling in their shares as global vaccine rollouts accelerate. Top Glove's stock tumbled 22 per cent in February to mark its worst month since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Top Glove and its peers were one of Asia's hottest trades at the height of the global pandemic and helped spur a comeback by amateur investors. That helped catapult volumes in Malaysia's stock market to record highs last year.

Issuance of new shares will enable Top Glove to raise fresh capital without having to undertake a cash call from its existing shareholders to fund its expansion, the company said in the statement.

The listing will also allow direct participation by new private and institutional investors in Hong Kong and North Asia including Chinese funds and wealth management investors in the equity of Top Glove, it said.

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