This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 13, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: DPI Holdings Bhd has executed an underwriting agreement with Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia which is slated for January 2019.

“Having built our in-house brands from scratch since 1982, we are definitely proud of our successes thus far: amassing a 300-colour product range, developing a broad channel of approximately 700 customers in Malaysia and counting local and international brands as our private label customers,” said DPI executive chairman and managing director Peter Chai in a statement yesterday.

He said with the underwriting agreement now completed, the company is now heading closer towards the IPO which will propel it to the next stage of growth.

The company’s IPO entails a public issue of 126.5 million new shares, representing 26% of the group’s enlarged share capital.

Out of the total public issue, 24.3 million shares are for the Malaysian public and 14.1 million shares for eligible directors, employees and persons who have contributed to the success of the group.

Another 39.4 million shares are for private placement to identified investors and 48.7 million shares for private placement to bumiputera investors identified by the ministry of international trade and industry.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank’s group managing director Datuk Maimoonah Hussain said DPI has an experienced management team with an excellent track record in the aerosol paint industry for over 30 years.

“We believe the group has many opportunities to stake a greater claim in the aerosol paints market, in light of the potential uptrend from the motor vehicle, arts and crafts and do-it-yourself segments,” he said.