KUALA LUMPUR: Pharmaceutical company Nova Wellness Group Bhd, that made its debut in the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia today, plans to expand business in the Southeast Asian market, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand.
Managing director and chief research officer Phang Nyie Lin said the company is currently in talks with sole agents or distributors from two countries.
“To date, we have already distributed six of our products in Indonesia and seven in Thailand. We are also starting our online business to see the market performance there, before looking for a single agent to become our product distributor.
“The discussion process is expected to take two years,” he told reporters after the listing ceremony here today.
Nova Wellness open at 65 sen, or at 11 sen premium, above its offer price of 55 sen.
Phang said through its initial public offering (IPO), Nova Wellness has successfully raised RM44.91 million from its public issue, of which 36.7 per cent will be utilised for the construction of a new production facility, and 25.8 per cent for research and development activities.
Apart from that, 11.2 per cent will be utilised for the expansion of the company’s retail market presence, 20.5 per cent for working capital and the balance of 5.8 per cent will be utilised to finance the company’s listing expenses.
The retail tranche of Nova Wellness’ IPO comprised 16 million new shares applied by the Malaysian public registered an oversubscription of 2.84 times.
Nova Wellness is a Malaysian-based company within nutraceutical industry. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nova Laboratories Sdn Bhd, is principally involved in the development, production and sales of nutraceutical and skincare products sold locally and overseas under the company’s house brands, and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) development and production of nutraceutical products.