Top Glove Mulls Raising $1 Billion in Hong Kong Listing

(Bloomberg) -- Top Glove Corp., the world’s biggest rubber glove maker, is considering raising more than $1 billion from a listing in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Top Glove, whose shares are traded in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, is working with advisers on the potential share sale in Hong Kong, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information is private. At $1 billion, Top Glove’s listing would be the biggest ever by a Malaysian company in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Deliberations are ongoing and details of the offering including size could increase depending on investor feedback, the people said.

The company confirmed that it is evaluating a dual primary listing in Hong Kong, according to an exchange statement Monday, without providing details of the offering.

The proposed Hong Kong listing, if it proceeds, “will enable Top Glove to be present in a larger, more active and liquid stock exchange,” the company said in the statement. The listing will also diversify Top Glove’s investor base and provide a larger fundraising platform to support its growth, it said.

Top Glove is talking to bankers on how best to list in Hong Kong and the process will take six to nine months, its executive chairman Lim Wee Chai told reporters in a briefing last month. The company still expects “fresh highs” in the coming year after reporting a record net income of 1.29 billion ringgit ($312 million) in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Shares of Top Glove have surged more than 460% this year in Malaysia on the back of demand for medical protective gear amid the coronavirus pandemic, outperforming the country’s benchmark index, which has fallen about 4.4% in 2020.

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