Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, a pay-TV firm, is offering up to 1.52 billion shares in an initial public offering, an updated draft prospectus showed on today, which could be worth about RM5.47 billion in the country's third largest listing this year.

The IPO, expected to list by end-September, comes after high-profile share sales by planter Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd in June and IHH Healthcare Bhd in July.

Astro, controlled by tycoon Ananda Krishnan, said the offer represents up to 29.2 percent of its enlarged paid-up capital, of which 597.69 million shares or 11.5 percent will be offered

to indigenous ‘bumiputera' investors, confirming what a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.

Another 661.75 million shares or 12.7 percent will be allocated to other institutional and selected investors, while 259.865 million shares or 5 percent will be offered to retail investors, Astro said.

Reuters reported last week that the IPO shares for indigenous ‘bumiputera' investors would be based on an indicative price of RM3.60 apiece, valuing the indigenous tranche around $700 million.

Based on that indicative price, the total 1.52 billion shares offered would be worth about RM5.47 billion.

Cornerstone investors

The company has given no information on pricing of the shares, and an initial draft prospectus released on Aug 8 did not provide any details on the size of the listing or a time

frame for the IPO process.

A separate source with knowledge of the deal said last week that cornerstone investors were likely to be offered a price similar to the bumiputera.

Bumiputera, or ‘sons of the soil', are majority ethnic Malays and other indigenous people in Malaysia favoured by a decades-old government policy in housing, education and business.

Astro's draft prospectus said it would use 58 percent of the proceeds for capital expenditure - ranging from investments in new corporate and technical buildings to additional transponders

- while the remainder would be used to repay bank borrowings, for working capital and for listing expenses.

Astro hired CIMB as the transaction manager for the listing. Joint principal advisers are CIMB, Maybank and RHB, according to the prospectus.

- Reuters