A commentary on PETRONAS Chemical’s listing by a Financial Times blog post, dateline 2010-10-09:
The publication of the draft prospectus for an initial public offering is rightly regarded as an important moment in the process. It tells investors that the sale really is going ahead. But sometimes it doesn’t tell them much more than that.
The draft prospectus for the IPO of Malaysia’s newly formed PETRONAS Chemicals Group is a case in point: large parts of the document filed with the Securities Commission of Malaysia consist of rows of black dots and notes on contingent uncertainties.
Add to that the lack of clarity about how much of the company PETRONAS is putting up for sale, and it’s not surprising that no analyst has yet felt able to produce a comprehensive analysis of the company’s financial prospects and potential market valuation. (If there’s one out there, please let us know; you can contact us as explained here.)
Uncertainties abound. The 22 companies that make up the group have no joint operational or financial history, except as subsidiaries of the main PETRONAS group, and the new Chemicals group management has not yet had a chance to run the unit as a single entity.
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Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 