Sona Petroleum Berhad raises RM 550 million from its IPO

Sona Petroleum Berhad, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), has raised RM 550 million from its initial public offering (IPO). Sona issued 1.1 billion new shares of 1 Malaysian sen each, together with up to 1.1 billion free detachable warrants, at an issue price of 50 sen per share. Of the total, 141 million shares were offered to the Malaysian public, while the remaining 950 million shares were offered to selected investors. The amount raised by Sona was higher than that raised by two other SPACs in the country: Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad raised RM 235 million in July 2011 and Cliq Energy Berhad generated RM 364 million in April 2013. A SPAC is a company that does not engage in any operations; its listing is done for the purposes of a merger or an acquisition through the usage of proceeds from the IPO exercise.