KUALA LUMPUR (April 13): Khazanah Nasional Bhd is trimming its stake in CIMB Group Holdings Bhd by placing out 83 million shares representing 0.8% in the banking group in an accelerated placement.

According to a summary of the offer sighted by theedgemarkets.com, the price range is set between RM5.10 and RM5.28 per share for the book building that opened on Wednesday and closed the same night. The price range represents a discount of up to 3.4% to the stock's closing price of RM5.28 on the day.

The sale, which will trim Khazanah's shareholding in CIMB from 25.72% to 24.91%, is expected to raise between RM423.3 million and RM438.2 million for Khazanah. Post-transaction, Khazanah — CIMB's largest shareholder — will be subject to a 60-day lock-up on its stake.

Upsize option for this placement is to be confirmed. CIMB is a joint bookrunner for the placement.

Within Khazanah's portfolio, CIMB is parked in Khazanah's commercial basket, comprising investments which the latter may monetise whenever the right value exists.

This latest offering comes seven months after Khazanah similarly placed out 138.4 million shares in the banking group last September. That placement, representing about 1.4% in CIMB, was completed at RM4.80 per share, raising gross proceeds of RM664.5 million for the sovereign wealth fund following an accelerated bookbuilding.

At the time, Khazanah said in a statement that the placement had trimmed its CIMB stake to 25.6%, and that the exercise was part of its ongoing efforts to rebalance its portfolio and recycle its investments into new assets in Malaysia and globally, including new investments under its Dana Impak or Impact Fund, which is intended to catalyse new growth areas, build Malaysia's economic competitiveness and increase national resilience while driving priority socio-economic outcomes.

CIMB's share price, which slumped to as low as RM2.79 in end October 2020, has since been on a recovery path, reaching as high as RM5.58 in February this year.

Though it saw a sharp drop to as low as RM4.64 last month following news that the group was being sued by a dozen account holders over a banking error that caused their monies to be frozen, the counter recovered to its current level of RM5.28, which gives the group a market capitalisation of RM53.97 billion.