First highway business trust en route for listing

PETALING JAYA: Prolintas Managers Sdn Bhd, the trustee-manager of Prolintas Infra Business Trust (Prolintas Infra BT) has signed an underwriting agreement for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

It will be the country’s first highway business trust to be listed and is also the promoter of Prolintas Infra BT, Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The IPO encompassed the listing exercise via a business trust structure comprising four highways that have been acquired from Prolintas by the trustee-manager (on behalf of Prolintas Infra BT).

The four highways are Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Lebuhraya Kemuning-Shah Alam (LKSA), and Sistem Lingkaran Lebuhraya Kajang (Silk).

Prolintas Infra BT’s IPO involves the offer for sale by Prolintas of 539 million existing units in Prolintas Infra BT (IPO units), representing 49% of the total units in issue.

In a statement, Prolintas stated the joint underwriters, AmInvestment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and RHB Investment Bank Bhd, have agreed to underwrite the retail offering of 45.75 million of IPO units in Prolintas Infra BT, representing 4.16% of the total units in issue.

“The signing of the underwriting agreement symbolises a significant milestone.

“This momentous listing exercise provides us an avenue to unlock the value of our assets and at the same time, this business trust listing structure enables us to provide our unitholders sustainable returns in the long run as our assets have the requisite earnings visibility given their concessionbased nature,” Prolintas group chief executive officer Datuk Mohammad Azlan Abdullah said.

Of the retail offering IPO units, 18.25 million units will be allocated to the directors and key senior management of the trustee-manager, eligible employees of the trustee-manager and the companies held under the Prolintas Infra BT (trust group) and persons who have contributed to the success of the trust group.

A total of 27.5 million units will be reserved for application by the public via balloting, the statement noted.

Prolintas Infra BT is expected to be listed in the first quarter of 2024.