Upon completion of the IPO, Lee and his spouse will hold a 83% stake in 99 Speed Mart. This means only 17% will be in the public’s hands, including 14 cornerstone investors who will collectively hold 786 million shares, or 9.35% equity interest.

The retailer, which will be listed on Sept 9, has sought a minimum public shareholding spread of 15%. It is worth noting that a moratorium has been imposed on the shares held by Lee and his wife.

The cornerstone investors include AHAM Asset Management Bhd, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd, AIA, Great Eastern Life Assurance, the Employees Provident Fund and the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso).

Besides the offer for sale of 1.03 billion shares, 99 Speed Mart will issue 400 million new shares to raise RM660 million in fresh capital for expansion. Its enlarged capital will balloon to 8.4 billion shares upon listing.

“As long as the new supply of shares is kept at bay, the price of the equities could remain supported,” an analyst comments.

As at March 31, 99 Speed Mart’s cash balance stood at RM78.5 million, against its total borrowings of RM50.7 million. Hence, it has a net cash position of RM27.8 million.

During an investor briefing, the group said it aimed to raise the number of outlets to 3,000 by end-2025 from 2,651 stores now. Currently, 86% or 2,285 of its stores are in the northern, central and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. Less than 5%, or 119, of the stores are on the east coast.

The group also said it intended to enter the Kelantan and Terengganu markets soon to ensure that every state would be covered in its network of outlets.