Lee Thiam Wah’s first retail enterprise was promoting snacks from a roadside stall in Malaysia. A number of many years later, the entrepreneur has reworked that humble starting right into a sprawling retail empire of greater than 2,600 comfort shops throughout the nation.
At this time, the 60-year-old was minted as a billionaire after his firm 99 Velocity Mart Retail Holdings Bhd went public in Kuala Lumpur.
The $531 million preliminary public providing is Malaysia’s largest in seven years. On the IPO value of 1.65 ringgit ($0.38) per share, Lee’s fortune is about $3.3 billion, in line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The inventory rose as a lot as 15% on Monday.
The itemizing cements Kuala Lumpur because the busiest location for market debuts in Southeast Asia this 12 months and reveals investor optimism within the nation’s development potential. The agency’s shares are seen as a strategy to construct publicity to the shopper sector in an economic system that’s projected to increase as a lot as 5% this 12 months.
“It comes at a crucial moment for both Malaysia’s IPO landscape and Southeast Asia’s capital markets,” mentioned Mohit Mirpuri, a senior companion and fund supervisor at Singapore-based SGMC Capital Pte Ltd. “This could boost market sentiment and position Malaysia as a key player,” in regional listings, he mentioned.
Little store empire
Lee was born in 1964 in Klang, considered one of a number of cities littering the stretch between Kuala Lumpur and the shores of the Malacca Strait. His father, a building employee, and his mom, a hawker, had 11 kids and will solely afford to ship Lee to highschool for six years.
His first retail enterprise—that roadside stall—was born of necessity. As a baby he contracted polio and completely misplaced the usage of his legs.
“Nobody would hire me due to my physical limitation,” he advised Forbes in 2012. “I have to help myself.”
Lee opened a grocery store in 1987 and a decade later he was working eight shops underneath the title Pasar Mini 99, the place his spouse, Ng Lee Tieng, 44, began her profession as a buying government in 1997. Till the IPO, the couple have been the corporate’s sole homeowners.
At this time, the chain is the most important of its sort in Malaysia, holding a 40% share within the mini-market phase and practically 12% amongst all grocery retailers, in line with the IPO prospectus.
Lee’s “journey is an inspiring example for small business owners, showing that with determination, perseverance and a customer-focused approach, it’s possible to scale a business, even from humble beginnings,” mentioned SGMC’s Mirpuri.
Lee will stay as the corporate’s chief government officer. The 99 Velocity Mart chain kinds the majority of his web value, together with money collected from dividends and the share sale.
He additionally holds stakes in a number of carefully held companies, together with the only Malaysian franchisor of Burger King eating places. Final 12 months he additionally briefly emerged as one of many greatest particular person shareholders in Alliance Financial institution Malaysia Bhd. with a roughly 5% stake, regulatory filings present.
Bullish market
Because the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index equities benchmark heads to its greatest 12 months since 2010, listings are again after years of lackluster development.
99 Velocity Mart’s itemizing attracted 14 cornerstone buyers that included abrdn Asia Ltd. and UOB Asset Administration (Malaysia).
About 28% of the proceeds from the IPO will go to the corporate, which plans to setup new shops and distribution facilities, buy supply vans and repay loans, in line with the prospectus. The corporate posted a revenue after tax of 133.2 million ringgit on income of two.4 billion ringgit for the primary three months of 2024.
The mini-mart operator’s tagline ‘Near n’ Save’ is a part of a enterprise mannequin that emphasizes comfort and easy accessibility for customers, mentioned Arun George, an analyst at International Fairness Analysis who publishes on the platform Smartkarma.
The dimensions of the agency’s operations create a barrier to entry and growth for different mini-market gamers in Malaysia, “hindering their ability to compete effectively” he mentioned.
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