The palm oil producer opened at its IPO price of 84 sen, before declining to 83 sen. However, it managed to gain some ground by the mid-day break and was up seven sen or 8.3% at 91 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.28 billion.

It was the most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia with a total of 132.4 million shares changing hands.

The group raised RM735 million by selling a 35% stake, or 835 million shares, making it the largest IPO since March 2022 when dairy producer Farm Fresh Bhd raised RM1 billion.

Interest in the IPO shares had been rather subdued with the public tranche oversubscribed by 2.18 times by the Malaysian public, while shares for eligible persons were fully subscribed.

The IPO was also backed by seven cornerstone investors — including Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), abrdn, and AHAM Asset Management — which agreed to buy 40.8% of the institutional offering, while the remaining shares available for book building were covered 5.19 times.

The public issue of 464 million new ordinary shares raised RM389.76 million, of which more than half is earmarked for capital expenditure including the construction of an integrated sustainable palm oil complex and replanting activities. The rest will go towards repaying bank borrowings, as working capital, and to defray listing expenses.

The offer for sale of 411 million existing shares raised RM345.2 million, which accrued entirely to the selling shareholder, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned Johor Corp, which retained a 65% stake in JPG after the listing.

The group is involved in the production of palm oil, palm kernels and bio-methane. As of May, it had a total of 55,904 hectares of land on 23 oil palm estates, including 22 in Johor and one in Pahang.

With the funds raised, it aims to become an integrated player in the palm oil industry, said chairman Ismail Bakar at the listing ceremony.