Locally-owned Mengly J Quach Education Plc (MJQE) has received the green light from the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) for its anticipated $10 million initial public offering (IPO) to fund plans to open more schools across the Kingdom.
Incorporated on September 5, 2012, the company is set to become the first in the entire education sector to feature on the local bourse, listing a stock on the CSX’s Main Board – as opposed to the secondary Growth Board that caters to smaller firms with high-growth prospects.
A March 9 CSX announcement noted that MJQE must now receive approval from the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) and meet the additional pre-IPO requirements.
In a February 11 notice, MJQE, an umbrella for Aii Language Centers (Aii) and American Intercon Schools (AIS), disclosed that it had applied with the SERC for the IPO, and expects an approval in March.
“We are now accepting indications of interest and requests for pre-allocated IPO shares until March 10, 2023.”
“Please book or request for pre-allocation of the shares now before the public subscription begins because the number of shares available during public subscription is limited while the price per share is at $0.51 which is subjected to approval by SERC, and the IPO is expected to be officially approved by mid-March.
“We plan to raise up to $10 million from the IPO by making 5.88 per cent shares of our company available [under] the IPO.
“The gross amount raised from the IPO for the company of approximately $7 million, plus our internal generated funds and new bank loans will be used to fund 20 new campuses’ expansion[s] over locations that [are] already secured in hand.
“In the event of stronger-than-anticipated demand, we will seek approval for a larger quantum of shares in the initial offering, capped [at] 20 per cent,” it said.
SERC director-general Sou Socheat confirmed to The Post last month that the regulator has received the necessary paperwork for the IPO application, and that a technical team is reviewing the submission to assess whether or not the supportive documents meet the requirements.
However, Socheat said that the review process, as prescribed by law, could take as long as three-to-six months.
