Samling said to prepare $332 million IPO for Bentley dealer

(Jan 4): Samling Group, the Malaysian timber giant, is planning an initial public offering of its automotive operations that could raise more than 1 billion ringgit ($332 million), people with knowledge of the matter said.

Samling is working with advisers to explore a possible dual listing of the business in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore later this year, according to the people. The share sale could include Samling’s domestic car dealership division as well as operations under StarChase, a luxury auto distributor backed by the group’s controlling Yaw family, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

StarChase runs dealerships in Hong Kong and mainland China selling brands including Porsche, Aston Martin and Volvo. In 2014, it paid $455 million to acquire United Engineers’ Wearnes Automotive unit, which distributes Bentley and Jaguar cars in Singapore and Indonesia. Samling itself sells Bentley, Mitsubishi and Honda vehicles in Malaysia and provides after-sales services for those marques, according to its website.

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