Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas (Kuala Lumpur; www.petronas.com) has raised a USD 4.1 bn in an initial public offering for shares of its recently established Petronas Chemicals Group. According to several news reports the IPO raised more than twice the initial market estimate and Petronas Chemicals is one of the 10 biggest stocks on Malaysia’s stock exchange, where the shares were listed for the first time on 26 November.

Petronas Chemicals is made up of 22 different companies and reported to have 10m t/y of capacity – comprising both olefins and polymers as well as methanol and fertilisers. Petronas has decided to keep 69% of the shares in its new chemical arm, with the remaining 31% now in shareholder hands. Almost USD 3 bn of the USD 4.1 bn IPO will go to the parent company, with the remainder earmarked for the new Petronas Chemicals.

Local media report that Petronas Chemicals plans to grow both by expanding its production capacity and through selective acquisitions. The group is said to be mulling whether to expand its operations in Sabah and Sarawak to take advantage of the natural gas here, and also is involved in a project currently evaluated by parent company Petronas to develop an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the country.