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MALAYSIA. In a move that will spark widespread interest in the investment community, Atlan Holdings, parent company of Singapore-listed Duty Free International Limited (DFIL) is seeking a dual primary listing for its travel retail subsidiary on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
DFIL is the largest local duty free retailing group in Malaysia, with a strategic presence at all leading entry and exit points in Malaysia, including airports, seaport, downtown, border towns and popular tourist destinations.
The powerful and increasingly ambitious group currently operates 36 outlets comprising 34 duty free retail stores and two duty paid perfumery and cosmetics retail shops.
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Duty Free International’s The Zon Duty Free is a prominent name in Malaysian travel retail |
Atlan Holdings said: “The Directors are of the view that it is desirable and beneficial for the company to have dual primary listing status in both Singapore and Hong Kong so that the company can tap readily into two of Asia’s most dynamic equity markets when the opportunity arises.
“Furthermore, the proposed Hong Kong dual listing will widen the investor base of the company so that the company may benefit from its exposure to a wider range of private and institutional investors, and is expected to increase trading liquidity of the ordinary issued shares in the capital of the company.”
Under Stock Exchange of Hong Kong main board listing rules, at least 25% of the total number of shares must at all times be held by the public. As the total number of DFIL shares currently held in public hands is below that level, the company will need to meet the requirement by either placing out new shares, or engaging its controlling shareholder(s) to sell some of their
existing holdings.
