Cuckoo eyes $172 mn IPO of Malaysian unit in Kuala Lumpur: Bloomberg
Jong-Hwan Won
Oct 30, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
South Korea’s leading rice cooker and small appliance maker Cuckoo Holdings Co. is said to be seeking to list its Malaysian unit in the Southeast Asian country to raise as much as 750 million ringgit ($172 million), Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The foreign media outlet said Cuckoo filed an initial public offering (IPO) prospectus of Cuckoo International (Mal) Sdn. with Malaysia's securities authorities last week to sell about 222 million existing shares and 143 million new shares.
The Korean appliance maker is eyeing the IPO of Cuckoo International as early as next year, which could value the Malaysian unit at as much as 3 billion ringgit, according to the report.
Its underwriters are RHB Investment Bank Bhd. and AmInvestment Bank Bhd.
People familiar with the matter who refused to be identified warned, however, that the details of the planned IPO like size and timing are subject to change, reported Bloomberg.
CUCKOO, UNRIVALED RICE COOKER MAKER AT HOME
Cuckoo International was set up in Kuala Lumpur in 2014 to sell the Korean appliance maker’s rice cookers and water purifiers in Southeast Asia.
Cuckoo Holdings also operates in other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as in India, China and the US.
But with the Korean rice cooker market having hit its peak with annual sales of 3 million units, Cuckoo’s rice cooker sales have plateaued at home, leading the company to find fresh revenue sources such as overseas markets.
Sales of the company’s mainstay IH, or induction heating, pressure cookers dropped to 336.7 billion won ($243.3 million) in 2023 from 339.3 billion won in 2022, according to the company’s filing.
Cuckoo Holdings owns a home appliance manufacturing unit Cuckoo Electronics Co. and a rental business unit Cuckoo Homesys Co.
Cuckoo Holdings’ shares shed 2.2% to close at 23,950 won on Wednesday, wiping away a 1.9% gain in the previous session.
OCI MALAYSIAN UNIT ALSO EYES AN IPO IN KUALA LUMPUR