Glove maker HARPS cancels IPO, citing unfavorable market conditions

KUALA LUMPUR (October 28): HARPS Holdings Bhd, a Malaysian manufacturer and global distributor of nitrile examination gloves, has announced that it has decided not to proceed with its proposed initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the main market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd due to adverse market conditions.

The proposed IPO, involving the offering of a total of 2.6 billion shares through institutional and retail offerings, is expected to take place by the end of 2021, she said in Thursday. a statement.

“Having taken into account feedback from the investor engagement process, in particular the widespread investor sentiment and reluctance towards the Malaysian glove industry, as well as the outlook for the Malaysian gloves industry since the time we first submitted our IPO application to the regulators, we took this very difficult decision not to proceed with the proposed listing despite obtaining the approval of the Securities Commission on June 21 2021.

“After careful consideration of the interests of all our stakeholders and various discussions with our shareholders, board of directors, senior advisor and joint global coordinators, we believe this is the most appropriate decision for HARPS at this point, ”said the founder of HARPS, managing director and CEO Haziq Zaïrel Oh said in the statement.

“We continue to have a positive vision for the future of HARPS and we are focused on orienting HARPS to become a market leader in the glove industry. We will continue to advance our growth plans, which include increasing our total annual installed capacity to 19.5 billion gloves by the end of 2023.

“HARPS will continue to adhere to its environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework and has a sustainability roadmap in place to ensure that we are internally aligned with our sustainability goals as well as to deliver on our commitment to maintain our ESG principles at the highest level. standards, ”he noted.