OldTown Kopitiam eyes Main Market listing

The home-grown OldTown restaurant chain, renowned for popularizing the nostalgia of the good old days of kopitiam in an urban setting, is going for listing. OldTown, which owns and operates the OldTown White Coffee brand and cafe outlets, plans to issue 59.5m new shares of RM1 each and offer for sale 30m shares under its proposed IPO pursuant to its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. According to its draft prospectus on the Securities Commission website, the group is offering 10m of the new shares, representing 3.3% of its enlarged paid-up capital for application by the general public and 5m shares to directors and employees. Old Town plans to use the IPO proceeds to acquire other companies (32% of proceeds), 40% for capital expenditure, 15% for working capita, 7% for repayment of bank borrowings and the balance for listing expenses. Old Town also aims to expand its café outlets locally and in Singapore. (Financial Daily)