7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd has received approval at the second time of asking to list on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange by selling an estimated US$200 million worth of shares, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The convenience store operator, controlled by billionaire Vincent Tan, had proposed an initial public offering (IPO) for December, but postponed until March after regulators requested information mainly regarding the value of the company’s businesses.

Having satisfied regulatory requirements, the company now aims to list in May, the person told Reuters today, declining to be identified as the offer was ongoing.

To fund expansion plans, 7-Eleven is offering up to 530.33 million shares - 490.78 million shares for institutional investors and the remainder for individuals, according to a draft prospectus released in January.

Indigenous ‘bumiputra’ institutions and individuals have first refusal over 141.84 million shares, under the so-called International Trade and Industry Ministry tranche, the person said.

Bumiputra are ethnic Malays and other indigenous people in Malaysia who receive preferential treatment in business, housing and education under a decades-old government policy.

“The (bumiputra) offer will close at noon on Thursday,” the person said, adding that the offer price has not been determined.

The allotment for bumiputra investors would bring in some US$53.5 million in an IPO of about US$200 million in size, Reuters calculations showed.

A representative of 7-Eleven was not immediately available to comment.

The company, Malaysia's largest convenience store chain with almost 1,500 outlets, plans to use most of the IPO proceeds to open 600 stores over the next three years, from around 300 over the past three years.

It has hired Kenanga Investment Bank and Maybank Investment Bank as joint principal advisers, bookrunners and underwriters. UBS is joint global coordinator and bookrunner and CIMB Investment Bank is a bookrunner.

7-Eleven was formerly Seven Convenience Bhd and was once a subsidiary of Berjaya Retail Bhd, another company controlled by Tan.

Tan, Malaysia’s 10th richest person according to Forbes, listed Berjaya Retail in mid-2010 and delisted it nine months later after its share price dropped.

“It is a different animal now,” said another person familiar with the IPO. “They now have a pretty good expansion plan and net profit growth will be higher than before.”

- Reuters