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Bloomberg
Samling Group, the Malaysian timber giant, is planning an initial public offering of its automotive operations that could raise more than $250 million, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Samling is working with advisers to explore a possible dual listing of the business in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore later this year, according to the people. The share sale could include Samling’s domestic car dealership division as well as operations under StarChase, a luxury auto distributor backed by the group’s controlling Yaw family, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
StarChase runs dealerships in Hong Kong and mainland China selling brands including Porsche, Aston Martin and Volvo. In 2014,
it paid $342 million to acquire United
Engineers Ltd.’s Wearnes Automotive Pte unit, which distributes Bentley and Jaguar cars in Singapore and Indonesia. Samling itself sells Bentley, Mitsubishi and Honda vehicles in Malaysia and provides after-sales services for those marques, according to its website.
Any deal will add to the $11.3 billion raised through first-time share sales in Southeast Asia in 2017, up from $6.1 billion in 2016, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Samling would join Malaysian state-backed hospital operator IHH Healthcare Bhd., which completed a dual listing in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in 2012. Deliberations are at an early stage, and Samling may opt to list the business in only one stock market, according to one of the people.
A representative for Samling, which is based in Sarawak state on the island of Borneo, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.