KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 2): Private equity firm Creador has further pared down its shareholding in CTOS Digital Bhd to 14.25% from 26.6% as on Dec 19, by disposing of 284.81 million shares via Inodes Ltd on Thursday (Feb 2), raising RM413 million or US$97 million.
Creador previously sold 38 million shares on Dec 19, reducing its stake to 26.6% from 28.2% as on Nov 1.
CTOS’ stock exchange filing showed that following the latest disposal — undertaken through a placement — Creador is left with 329.13 million shares in hand.
Creador said in a statement that the placement shares were priced at RM1.45 each, representing a 6% discount to the stock’s closing price of RM1.54.
The equity firm said the placement received strong demand from domestic and foreign institutional investors, resulting in the deal being upsized to satisfy demand.
“Creador, which has been an investor in CTOS since 2014, has been impressed with the company’s strong and sustainable performance and remains highly committed to supporting CTOS Digital in its pursuit of growth and in particular, its focus on the opportunities that are emerging with the rise of the digital economy,” it added.
CTOS was listed in July 2021 and the stock rose to a record high of RM2.03 by October the same year. However, it lost 20.5% in value in 2022.
Shares of the credit-reporting agency rose at the start of this year, climbing 11% to a 10-month high of RM1.57 on Jan 26, before paring most of the gains over the past few trading days.
On Thursday, the counter closed eight sen or 5.2% lower at RM1.46, just slightly above the RM1.42 price as at end-2022. CTOS has a market capitalisation of RM3.37 billion.
Read also: