IPO ... Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd

A shell company has no assets, no track record and no business. Essentially, they would be investing the management of the company.

The structure of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which is regulated by SC, requires that the company utilize its IPO proceeds within three years of listing, with a minimum shareholders’ approval of 75% for any proposed acquisitions.

The company is headed by veterans in the O&G industry – Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd board member and former Shell Malaysia deputy chairman Zainul Rahim as its chairman, fromer SapCrest Bhd COO Pereira and Perisai’s MD Zainol Izzet as a director of the company.

It also has two foreign experts on board, namely India based Raliance Industries Ltd’s Dr Rabi as its non executive director and former Sarawak Sehll Bhd project manager Dr Pascal Hos as its head of petroleum engineering.

Hibiscus plans to raise between rm150 million and rm300 million in the IPO leading up to the acquisition of assets or the rights to develop small O&G fields in South Asia, the Middle East, East Asia and Oceania.

Despite listing in Malaysia, its immediate market is not necessarily in Malaysia.

It intends to become a junior independent O&G exploration and production player in the near to medium term, making it a pure E&P player.