PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s largest pharmacy chain Big Caring Group Bhd expects to raise up to RM2.45 billion (US$600 million) when it launches its share sale in the final week of October, said the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The group, which is backed by private equity firm Creador, aims to list on the Main Market by mid-November, the financial newspaper said, citing sources.
The deal will value the company at over RM6 billion, the report said. The group operates the Big Pharmacy and Caring Pharmacy chains and has about 670 stores nationwide.
Big Caring previously said the initial public offering (IPO) will involve up to 1.9 billion shares, representing 25.5% of its enlarged share capital. Of this, 590.5 million new shares will be issued while 1.3 billion existing shares will be offered for sale.
The IPO comprises an institutional tranche of up to 1.6 billion shares while 267.6 million shares will be offered to retail investors.
The WSJ report said the IPO comes amid global market turmoil as prolonged geopolitical conflict stoked concerns of rising interest rates to combat elevated inflation.
Nevertheless, the company has secured commitments from “dozens of cornerstone investors”, who have agreed to take a significant portion of the IPO ahead of the offering, it added.
Big Caring is helmed by group managing director and CEO Lee Meng Chuan and his wife Lim Sin Yin, who opened their first outlet in Damansara Uptown, Selangor, in 2006.
The group has grown rapidly since, fuelled by a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, including the merger with RedCap Pharmacy in 2018 and My Pharmacy in 2019. It then acquired Caring Pharmacy from 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd in 2023.
According to its draft prospectus, the group intends to use the IPO proceeds to significantly reduce debt incurred from recent high-profile acquisitions and finance a new automated distribution centre.
As at Jan 31, 2026, Big Caring’s borrowings totalled RM1.3 billion, with the bulk of this debt being a RM831.3 million term loan used primarily for its RM888.3 million acquisition of Caring Pharmacy Group Sdn Bhd. It also forked out RM249.4 million for an 89.3% stake in Medispec (M) Sdn Bhd, a pharmaceutical distributor.
Last week, Big Caring signed a retail underwriting agreement with Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, RHB Investment Bank Bhd and AmInvestment Bank Bhd.
Maybank Investment Bank and RHB Investment Bank are the joint principal advisers, joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners, joint managing underwriters and joint underwriters for the IPO.