CIMB says no Touch ‘n Go IPO anytime soon

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said it is not planning on listing its 52%-owned electronic payment systems subsidiary Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia anytime soon.

“We want to see Touch ‘n Go produce more results first. I think one year is a bit too soon for the company to create value and have the necessary track record that will fetch the right IPO (initial public offering) valuation,” CIMB group chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz told reporters after delivering a keynote address at The Economic and Leadership Forum 2018 on Saturday. The event was organised by the London School of Economics Students’ Union Malaysia Club.

“At the end of the day, we (CIMB) want to make sure that it (Touch ‘n Go) creates value before proceeding with any listing plan,” he said.

“If we believe that we may need the capital to fuel faster growth, then we will look at the listing possibility,” Zafrul added.

Talks of Touch ‘n Go planning an IPO emerged as early as May 2014. The Edge Malaysia weekly in January 2017 raised the possibility of CIMB unlocking the Touch ‘n Go asset as part of its plans to divest its non-core assets.

In July 2017, Touch ‘n Go teamed up with Ant Financial — an affiliate of Alibaba Group — and inked a joint-venture agreement to roll out a mobile wallet ecosystem for Malaysians, which is expected to be launched in October.

Apart from CIMB, the other two shareholders of Touch ‘n Go are UEM Group Bhd (20%) and MTD Equity Sdn Bhd (27.78%).

CIMB’s Annual Report 2017 revealed that Touch ‘n Go generated RM32.53 million in pre-tax profit on revenue of RM122.03 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017.

As at end-2017, Touch ‘n Go had more than 20 million e-payment cards circulating in the country.

http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cimb-says-no-touch-n-go-ipo-anytime-soon