MAXIS TO RELIST IN SE ASIA'S BIGGEST IPO

       Maxis, Malaysi's top mobile operator, is tipped to receive a warm welcome back to the bourse this month in an IPO worth around $3.43 billion (Bt114.8 billion), billed as the biggest in Southeast Asia's history.
       Maxis, controlled by reclusive Malaysian tycoon Anada Krishnan and Saudi Telecom, is launching the initial public offering (IPO) on Bursa Malasia two years after it was taken private and de-listed.
       It is offering 2.25 billion, or 30 per cent, of its shares at an indicative price of 5.20 ringgit which would raise 11.7 billion ringgit (Bt114.8 billion). Most of the shares will go to institutional investors.
       Nazir Razak, group chief executive of CIMB which is the principal adviser fot he listing exercise, said the IPO will be the biggest in Southeast Asian history.
       Parent company Maxis communications is expected to deploy the proceeds of the sale, slated for November 19, on funding expansion, and to reduce debt.
       The listing includes only Maxis's Malaysian mobile business and excludes its ventures in India and Indonesia which remain under Maxis Communications, the unlisted parent company.
       Alliance Research said Maxis remains the leading mobile operator in Malaysia in both the prepaid and post-paid segments with some 11.4 million subscriptions as at tne of the first half of 2009.
       Its post-paid segment holds a thumping 46.4 per cent of the market, but Alliance said the business had "limited growth prospects, without overseas operations".