Bumi Armada eyes US$800m from IPO

SINGAPORE: Malaysian-based international offshore oil field services contractor, Bumi Armada Bhd hopes to raise between US$700 million and US$800 million from its initial public offering (IPO) plan.

Its executive director and chief executive officer, Hassan Basma said the the IPO was aimed at going for bigger growth for the company.

"We are considering a couple of that range IPOs in the near future, but again provided if we can do it well," he told reporters after the FPSO ARMADA TGT 1'S "Set Sail, For Success" event yesterday.

Looking at the number of FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessels it operates, Bumi Armada is now number eight in the world ranking.

With the new FPSO that is going to start operation in August, he said Bumi Armada would make it number six in the ranking.

"We are hoping that our target near term is to be number four. That's the kind of growth ambition that we have for the industry," he added.

When asked on when the listing will take place, Bumi Armada chairman Datuk Mahamad Fathil Datuk Mahmood said that the company was still waiting for approval from the Securities Commission.

"We hope to get the approval by the middle of this month...start producing prospectus by the end of the month if everything is in order," he said, adding that it would be the biggest local IPO for the year.

Bumi Armada currently serves clients in 11 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

With 43 Offshore supply vessels and three FPSOs in operation, Bumi Armada is the largest OSV owner operator in Malaysia and the eighth largest FPSO operator in the world. -- Bernama