Sunway Healthcare soars after biggest IPO in 9 Years

2026-03-18 - 03:50

The healthcare provider will use the proceeds for capital expenditure, including expanding existing hospitals, building a new facility and redeeming Islamic medium-term notes. KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Sunway Healthcare Bhd. jumped nearly 32% in their debut after the company raised RM2.86 billion in the country’s largest initial public offering in nine years. The shares climbed to as high as RM1.91 on Wednesday from an IPO price of RM1.45, valuing the company at around RM22 billion. The healthcare provider will use the proceeds for capital expenditure, including expanding existing hospitals, building a new facility and redeeming Islamic medium-term notes. The listing points to a pickup in Malaysia’s IPO market, where proceeds fell 14% last year, as the country is emerging as a haven of political stability in Southeast Asia. The MSCI Malaysia Index has risen 11.1% over the past year, lagging a 29% gain in the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index. The share sale also highlights investor appetite for private healthcare assets. Other Asian companies in the industry planning share sales include Aier Eye Hospital Group Co., China’s biggest chain of eye hospitals and India’s General Atlantic-backed ASG Hospital Pvt. Medline Inc., which manufactures and distributes medical supplies last year raised US$6.26 billion in an upsized deal in the US. Sunway Healthcare runs five private hospitals, along with ambulatory care centers and support facilities across Malaysia, according to its website. It plans to add as many as five more hospitals in the coming years, with three already under construction. The healthcare listing is conglomerate Sunway Bhd.’s third division to go public on the Malaysian stock exchange, after its construction arm Sunway Construction Group Bhd. and Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust. The conglomerate, founded by tycoon Jeffrey Cheah, spans industries from education and retail to quarries, and has moved into data centres.