CTOS Digital’s IPO oversubscribed by 27.6 times

KUALA LUMPUR: CTOS Digital Bhd (CTOS Digital) received tremendous response for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) with its retail tranche oversubscribed by 27.6 times, paving the way for its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Malaysia) on July 19, 2021.

In a press statement, CTOS Digital said it garnered 51,494 applications for 1.26 billion shares with a total value of RM1.38 billion, out of the 44 million shares made available for application by the Malaysian public. The RM1.38 billion received for the public tranche is the largest retail demand for an IPO since 2013.

The institutional offering of 936 million IPO shares, comprising 900 million offer shares and 36 million issue shares offered to Malaysian and foreign institutional and selected investors, have been fully subscribed.

A total of 23 cornerstone investors subscribed to 54.4 per cent of the institutional offering and the remaining shares available for bookbuilding saw an overwhelming demand of over RM6.5 billion.

Participants include renowned names such as Employees Provident Fund Board, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Aberdeen Standard Investment, AIA, Eastspring Investments, FIL Investment Management and JP Morgan Asset Management.

CTOS Digital group chief executive officer Dennis Martin said: “The strong oversubscription in both the retail and institutional offerings showcases the investing community’s confidence in both our track record and strong growth trajectory.

“The credit reporting industry in Malaysia and Asean are at relatively early stages compared to developed countries such as the US and the UK. As the leading player, we are well positioned to capitalise on the potential for growth across existing and new segments and verticals.

“Our ambition is to build a comprehensive credit reporting ecosystem in the region; the response from the investing public – both institutional and retail – reflects their confidence in our ability to realise these ambitions.”

According to independent market research conducted by IDC Malaysia in 2020, the credit reporting revenue per capita in Malaysia (RM6.86) and Asean (RM1.48) were much lower compared to UK (RM59.38) and US (RM83.39). Similarly, countries within the Asean region also recorded a lower percentage of adults covered by credit bureau services (46 per cent) versus the percentage of adults covered in the UK and US (100 per cent).