Maxis Communications Bhd. is selling more than $3 billion of its flagship mobile-phone unit’s stock in Malaysia’s biggest initial public offering, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Maxis Bhd. shares will be sold at 5 ringgit ($1.48) each to institutional investors and 4.75 ringgit to individuals, according to the people, who asked not to be identified before a public announcement Tuesday. The price for institutions is at the low end of the range indicated Monday by arranger CIMB Investment Bank Bhd.
The sale may generate about 11.2 billion ringgit, more than double the amount Petronas Gas Bhd. raised in 1995, and give billionaire Ananda Krishnan, who controls Maxis, funds to invest in markets that are growing faster than Malaysia. The offering underscores the increase in investor appetite for stocks as equity markets from Malaysia to China and India climb back to levels preceding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
“There’s a flow of money into Asia because Asia is where the growth is,” said David Ng, who looks after $1.6 billion of assets as chief investment officer at HwangDBS Investment Management Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. “Lots of managers would be underperforming their benchmarks” in the first half “so they would need to catch up for the final quarter” by investing more in equities.
-------Asian share sales
Maxis joins China Minsheng Banking Corp. and Sands China Ltd. among Asian companies pursuing at least $12.7 billion of share sales in the region as the steepest stock rally in six years drives a revival in equity offerings. China Merchants Securities Co. has said it’s planning to raise as much as 11.1 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in an initial share sale in Shanghai.
Tuesday’s offer values Maxis at 14 to 15 times its 2010 estimated earnings per share, according to Jeffrey Tan, an analyst at OSK Research Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur, who recommends investors “buy” the stock and has a share-price estimate of 5.80 ringgit.
Smaller Malaysian rival Digi.Com Bhd. trades at 15.6 times its estimated 2010 earnings per share. StarHub Ltd. in Singapore is valued at 10.6 times its estimated earnings next year, while MobileOne Ltd. trades at 10.5 times.
(Source: Bloomberg)