Carotech parent launches IPO
help its subsidiary Carotech, the supplier of palm-derived vitamin
E products, grow its business.
Hovid said yesterday that it had released 24,177,000 shares and made a public issue of 12,800,000 shares at RM1.76 each.
The shares will start trading on 5 April on the Malaysian Securities Exchange Board. Hovid's public issue of 6 million shares in its second board flotation was oversubscribed 12.64 times.
"With the listing, we expect to further expand our business locally and globally to the Indian and African markets," Hovid managing director David Ho told the Malaysia Star.
He said proceeds from IPO would be used by the group's core business, repayment of bank borrowings and working capital (RM6.93m).
Hovid, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Malaysia, started out making herbal tea and now markets more than 300 different pharmaceutical products, dietary supplements and herbal preparations.
Its business also includes Carotech, which claims to be the first and largest producer of tocotrienols and phytosterols extracted from palm fruits (Elaeis guineensis).
The parent firm is expecting to report turnover of RM145 million for the financial year ending June 30, up from RM113 million a year earlier. More than half of its revenue comes from exports.
