Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care Sdn Bhd has picked arrangers for an initial public offering in Malaysia that could raise about RM1.2 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Credit Suisse Group AG, Malayan Banking Bhd and Morgan Stanley have been chosen to work on the planned listing of the healthcare firm, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The share sale in Kuala Lumpur could take place as soon as the second half of this year, the people said.
Ramsay Sime could add more banks to the line-up later, the people said. Deliberations are continuing and hence details of the offering including size and timeline could still change, they said.
The mandates follow Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd’s earlier discussions with potential advisers for spin-off plans of the healthcare unit that it jointly owns with Australia’s largest private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care Ltd, Bloomberg News reported in October.
Ramsay Sime is in the process of appointing several financial advisers for a preliminary review of strategic options, a representative for Sime Darby said in response to Bloomberg News query today. Representatives for Credit Suisse, Maybank and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
An offering could see the hospital operator joining glove makers Harps Holdings Sdn Bhd and Smart Glove Corp as well as property firm Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd in seeking to list in Malaysia this year. Companies raised about US$487 million through first-time share sales in the Southeast Asian nation in 2020, up from US$458 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Ramsay Sime was set up in 2013 to hold Sime Darby and Ramsay Health’s combined portfolio of hospitals in Southeast Asia. It operates six hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as a day surgery facility in Hong Kong, according to Sime Darby’s annual report. The joint venture, which posted profit of RM39 million in the financial year 2020, also runs a nursing college in Malaysia.