KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 2): Oppstar Bhd, an integrated circuit design service provider, has signed an underwriting agreement with Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd (AHIBB) in conjunction with its initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd.

In a statement on Thursday (Feb 2), the group said the IPO involves a public issue of 165.48 million new shares, which represents approximately 26% of its enlarged issued share capital of 636.2 million shares upon listing.  

Of the 165.48 million shares, 31.81 million shares will be made available to the Malaysian public; 22.27 million shares for application by eligible directors, employees and business associates; 31.87 million shares for selected investors via private placement to selected investors; and 79.53 million shares to identified Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia via private placement.

AHIBB is the sole underwriter of the 54.08 million shares made available for application by the Malaysian public and eligible directors, employees and business associates of the group.

Oppstar’s executive director/chief executive officer Ng Meng Thai said, “The IPO will provide funding for our expansion and enable the public to participate in the group’s growth. We aim to increase our presence in the IC (integrated circuit) design industry in the region and create a greater impact on the semiconductor supply chain.”

The officer-in-charge of AHIBB, Ng Meng Wah, added, “With its experienced management team, we believe Oppstar will grow along with the technological trend. We thank Oppstar for the opportunity to be involved in this exciting IPO exercise and we look forward to supporting Oppstar in its future endeavours.”

Oppstar provides integrated circuit design services covering front-end design, back-end design and complete turnkey solutions to its customers in the region and works closely with multinational companies in the semiconductor industry.