Raising IDR 9.2 trillion in funds, this nickel issuer’s IPO shares soared 19 percent

Armfalcon.com, JAKARTA — PT Merdeka Battery Materials Tbk (MBMA) was officially listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Tuesday (18/4/2023). MBMA is the 34th company listed on the IDX this year.

At its debut, MBMA immediately shot up to level 955. This position strengthened by 19 percent from the time of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) at level 795.

For information, MBMA is a company that carries out downstream services in the electric motor vehicle battery value chain. From the IPO, MBMA released 11.55 billion new shares.

The company also raised funds of around IDR 9.2 trillion with a stock market capitalization value of IDR 85.9 trillion. “The funds will be used for the development of a number of projects,” said MBMA Main Director Devin Antonio Ridwan.

MBMA plans to use the proceeds from the IPO, among others, to finance the construction and development of a number of nickel processing projects such as the High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) I phase I facility. This facility has a capacity of 60 thousand tons per year to produce materials in the raw material value chain for motor vehicle batteries. electricity.

The rest will be used to strengthen the working capital of its subsidiaries, including PT Sulawesi Cahaya Mineral (SCM), which is a nickel mining company with one of the largest resources in the world in terms of nickel content.

Currently SCM has resources of more than 1.1 billion ores dry metric tonnes containing 13.8 million tons of nickel at 1.22 percent Ni content and 1.0 million tons of cobalt at 0.08 percent Co. SCM mine production capacity is expected to reach 14.6 million wet metric tonnes in 2024.

“MBMA will also use the IPO proceeds to pay off the loan,” said Devin.