Top Glove shelves $347 million Hong Kong listing -source

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY, March 8 (Reuters) - Malaysia’s Top Glove has postponed its plan to raise $347 million via a Hong Kong listing as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine weighs on investor sentiment and heightens markets volatility, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company, which benefited from demand for disposable gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, has a primary listing in Kuala Lumpur and a secondary listing in Singapore, and had planned the Hong Kong listing to broaden its investor base.

The source could not be named as the information has not yet been made public.

Top Glove did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

The rubber glove producer had initially aimed to raise $1 billion in the Hong Kong listing, which would have been a dual primary, but has scaled down the size of the deal over the past year.

Top Glove received shareholder approval in December to issue up to 793.5 million new shares which at the current price of 1.83 ringgit would have raised about $347 million.

Top Glove had planned to launch the deal in February but volatile financial markets at the time prompted the company to put the transaction on hold, the source said.

The invasion has increased volatility over the past two weeks. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

Top Glove’s Kuala Lumpur-listed stock has fallen 29.3% so far in 2022.

The firm is due to publish its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday.