KUALA LUMPUR (March 31): Private equity firm Creador announced that it has completed its exit from MR DIY Group (M) Bhd for RM664 million via a private placement exercise.
In a statement on Friday (March 31), the private equity fund said the exit was accomplished via a private placement of its remaining 464 million shares or 4.92% stake in MR DIY at RM1.43 apiece. The placement price represents a 6.5% discount to the last closing price of RM1.53.
“Of the total shares placed, 360 million shares were acquired by institutional investors for a total of RM514 million,” Creador said, adding that the balance 105 million shares were taken up by MR DIY and Creador management for RM150 million.
The fund noted that the institutional investor pool included more than 20 domestic and foreign long-only funds and sovereign wealth funds, which it noted underscores continued strong investor appetite for MR DIY’s stock.
Creador said while it sold its stake in MR DIY due to the end of its fund life slated in August 2023, the fund noted that it remains deeply impressed with the strategy and execution capability of MR DIY’s management team and remains highly confident in the company’s long-term potential.
Creador CEO and founder Brahmal Vasudevan continued that the fund has tremendous respect for MR DIY’s management team’s dedication and vision, and is confident that the company will continue to grow and thrive.
“We believe this final exit will eliminate any remaining overhang on the stock price and allow it to potentially increase its fair value,” he added. The placement agents of the exercise were Credit Suisse, Maybank, CLSA and RHB.
MR DIY founder acquires 0.53% stake for RM71.5 mil
According to MR DIY’s bourse filing on Friday, founder and executive vice-chairman Tan Yu Yeh forked out RM71.5 million to purchase 50 million shares or a 0.53% stake in the home improvement retailer, while his brother, executive vice-president Tan Yu Wei, acquired 7.6 million or 0.08%.
This raised Yu Yeh and Yu Wei’s direct stakes in MR DIY to 0.55% and 0.09%, respectively. The pair also hold another 50.76% stake or 4.8 billion shares via Bee Family Ltd.
Brahmal snapped up 14.92 million shares or a 0.16% stake via Japamala Ltd for RM21.34 million, bumping his total stake to 0.232%.
Meanwhile, Platinum Alphabet Sdn Bhd’s Tan Gaik Hoon and Gan Choon Leng acquired 4.2 million and 3.5 million shares respectively, raising their direct stakes to 0.31% and 0.29%. Through Platinum Alphabet, the pair also holds an indirect stake of 6.1%.
Less than three years ago, Creador held a 15.3% stake in MR DIY’s initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO raised RM1.5 billion, of which RM1.2 billion went to the promoters via offer for sales then. The shares were offered at RM1.60 per share (or RM1.07 adjusted for bonus issue).
Creador had its first share placement in August 2021, about 10 months after the listing exercise, and a few more subsequently.
MR DIY's share price has been on a decline since April 2021, down from the peak of RM2.78.
MR DIY's net profit for the full year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022) rose 9.52% to RM472.95 million from RM431.83 million in the previous year, with revenue up 18.15% to RM3.99 billion from RM3.37 billion.
Shares in MR DIY closed two sen or 1.31% higher at RM1.55, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM14.62 billion.