Kuala Lumpur: Food and beverage (F and B) services cafe chain operator Oriental Kopi Holdings Bhd, en route to a listing on Bursa Malaysia's ACE Market, aims to raise RM184 million through its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO share price is set at 44 sen each and the listing is scheduled for Jan 23, 2025.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the group said RM75.78 million or 41.2 per cent of the proceeds would be utilized for working capital; RM53.69 million (29.2 per cent) to set up its new head office, central kitchen, and warehouse at Selangor; RM36.40 million (19.8 per cent) for cafe chain expansion in Malaysia; RM5.5 million (3.0 per cent) for marketing activities in foreign countries; RM5 million (2.7 per cent) for expansion of the packaged food segment and RM7.6 million (4.1 per cent) for listing expenses.

Executive director Sean Koay Song Leng highlighted that the new operational facility in Puchong, Selangor, would centralize its management functions, optimize F and B operations, and enhance storage and distribution efficiency. "We came up with this centralized kitchen to minimize the kitchen operation at current outlets, because some of the outlets have very small kitchens. So we wanted to reduce the workload at the kitchen itself and shift it to a central kitchen to produce the food, instead of at the (outlet) kitchen, but our final preparation is still done in the outlet kitchen itself," he stated at a press conference following the launch of Oriental Kopi's prospectus.

Since its incorporation in December 2020, Oriental Kopi has established a network of 19 owned and operated cafes in Malaysia and a jointly owned and operated cafe in Singapore. These cafes are strategically located in various settings, including shopping malls, shop lots, and KL International Airport 2 retail mall, along with a specialty retail store in St Giles, Southkey Hotel, Johor Bahru.

Koay commented on the cafe chain expansion, noting that the company aims to open 13 outlets in Malaysia this year and plans to establish two more cafes in Singapore by 2025. "We also planned to expand our business to the neighboring countries," he added.

Based on the enlarged share capital of 2 billion ordinary shares, Oriental Kopi is expected to have an indicative market capitalization of RM880 million. The IPO will offer 418.1 million ordinary shares, with 60 million shares available to the Malaysian public via balloting; 20 million shares to its eligible directors, employees, and persons who have contributed to the group's success; and 88.1 million shares by way of private placement to selected investors. "The remaining 250 million IPO shares will be made available by way of private placements to bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry," it stated.

Applications for the public issue are open from today and will close on Jan 10, 2025, at 5 pm. Alliance Istamic Bank Bhd is the principal adviser, sponsor, sole underwriter, and placement agent for the IPO exercise.