Malaysia-based security seal specialist Mega Fortris Bhd started trading on the main market of Bursa Malaysia on Monday, after an initial public offering (IPO) that the company said drew “strong demand”, and saw it oversubscribed by 7.18 times.
“This milestone reflects our longstanding commitment to excellence in the security solutions industry, and it marks a new chapter in our ability to serve our clients, expand our global reach, and build greater value for stakeholders,” stated the firm in a Monday press release.
The IPO involved 295.74 million shares – comprising 147.87 million new shares and an equivalent amount in offer-for-sale shares – raising MYR99.07 million (US$22.8 million) for Mega Fortris and an additional MYR99.07 million for selling shareholders.
The group’s stock began trading at MYR0.67 per share on the main market of the country’s bourse on Monday. In early trading, the stock was flat, but closed on the day down 2.24 percent, at MYR0.655, show exchange data.
Mega Fortris stated it would use about 45.0 percent of the IPO proceeds for a new business venture in Macau, where it will provide a complete service for the “supply and handling of playing cards in sealed security boxes”. In the group’s results for the three months to September 30, its fiscal first quarter, the firm said the investment in Macau would be done over the course of three years, from the date of its share-listing.
The firm had mentioned the Macau plan at the time its IPO prospectus was issued last month.
In comments in a Monday press conference, reported by local media outlets, management said it expected minimal impact from a possible tariff of up to 10 percent – by the incoming administration of Donald Trump – on its products in the United States, one the group’s markets.
But the news outlets cited Jason Francis-White, Mega Fortris’ chief operating officer, as saying any changes in tariff policy by China had the potential to be “a bigger challenge”.
According to the fiscal first-quarter filing, year-to-date, the group derived 48 percent of its revenue from Asia Pacific; 26 percent from Europe; 22 percent from the U.S., and 4 percent from the Middle East.
The filing mentioned Mega Fortris would invest nearly MYR43.0 million over three years for “new production facilities for security seals in the United Kingdom”.
The firm’s COO said during Monday’s briefing that the new plant in the U.K. would enable the group to increase its production capacity there by 200 million units annually, from the existing output of 570 million units.
