Mega Fortris picks Bursa over SGX for IPO

PETALING JAYA: Mega Fortris Bhd, in which Singapore’s second-largest bank Oversea-chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) controls a 26% stake, is seeking a listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The move to list Mega Fortris on Bursa Malaysia instead of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has piqued market interest, considering that OCBC is also Sgx-listed.

Mega Fortris, one of the world’s largest security seal makers, plans to offer up to 295.74 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO) via a public issue (147.87 million new shares) and offer for sale (147.87 million existing shares).

The issue price has yet to be fixed. Proceeds from the IPO will be utilised to build a new factory in the United Kingdom and to fund its new business venture in Macao, all within three years.

The public issue of the IPO will allocate 42.25 million shares to the Malaysian public and 25.35 million shares to eligible persons. Meanwhile, about 38.02 million shares will be allocated to bumiputra investors and 42.25 million shares to institutional and select investors via a private placement.

The IPO of Mega Fortris is finally taking place after a long delay.

It was previously reported that the company, formerly known as Mega Fortris (M) Sdn Bhd, had wanted to list in 2008 but had to be postponed due to the global economic crisis. The plan was reiterated in 2012 but again failed to materialise.

On April 8, Mega Fortris filed its draft prospectus with the Securities Commission.

Mega Fortris sells security seals to various industries including casinos, logistics, retail, food and beverage manufacturing and government.

About 76.37% of its Rm161.3mil revenue in the financial year ended June 30, 2023 was derived from Mega Fortris’ in-house designed security seals.

PRE-IPO, Mega Fortris is 100% owned by Mega Fortris Global (MFG).

MFG is in turn 59.23% owned by Mega Fortris Capital, followed by LION-OCBC Capital Asia I Holding Pte Ltd or Locah (16.54%), Ng Brothers Estate (14.78%) and OCBC (9.45%).

The controlling shareholders of Mega Fortris Capital are 74-year-old Datuk Nick Ng Meng Kee and his brother, 59-year-old Datuk Adrian Ng Meng Poh. Their cumulative equity interest is 94.2%.

They also have equal shareholding in the Ng Brothers Estate.

It is noteworthy that Meng Kee is a substantial shareholder in candy and wafer maker Khee San Bhd, with a 8.05% stake. Khee San is listed on the Main Market.

Meng Kee has been reducing his stake in Khee San since last month, disposing of six million shares which brought down his equity interest from nearly 15% earlier.

On another note, Locah is an asset holding vehicle, which is wholly-owned directly by Lionglobal Capital Partners Pte Ltd (LGCP)

LGCP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lion Global Investors Ltd, which is in turn 30% owned by Orient Holdings Pte Ltd and 70% owned by Great Eastern Holdings Ltd, both of which are subsidiaries of OCBC.

This brings OCBC’S cumulative direct and indirect stake in Mega Fortris to 25.99%.