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SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR: QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd today confirmed that its initial public offering (IPO) has been postponed.
“QSR and its shareholders have decided to re-time the IPO following discussions with its bankers. In the meantime, the company will continue to focus on delivering results through the execution of the various initiatives for KFC, Pizza Hut and Ayamas,” QSR in a statement.
This comes after Reuters reported that QSR Brands has shelved plans for an IPO that could have raised as much as US$500 million (RM2.05 billion) as potential investors balked at its valuations.
QSR, backed by the investment arm of Malaysia’s Johor state and private equity firm CVC, had marketed the IPO to funds as anchor shareholders in the last few weeks. But they said the roughly 25 times forward earnings multiple being pitched was steep, Reuters quoted sources as saying.
If it had gone ahead, QSR would have been the biggest IPO in Malaysia in about two years, coming on the back of a year-long drought in the primary market, where total fundraising plunged to US$170 million in 2018, the lowest in 20 years, said Reuters.
QSR had planned to launch its IPO this quarter and as early as next month, it added.
QSR has 1,268 restaurants under its wing and employs more than 35,000 workers across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia.
