Nickel Producer Merdeka Battery Surges in Jakarta Trading Debut

Nickel producer PT Merdeka Battery Materials jumped in its trading debut in Jakarta on Tuesday after raising 9.2 trillion rupiah ($622 million) through an initial public offering.

(Bloomberg) — Nickel producer PT Merdeka Battery Materials jumped in its trading debut in Jakarta on Tuesday after raising 9.2 trillion rupiah ($622 million) through an initial public offering.

The shares finished 11% higher than the listing price, ending Monday at 885 rupiah apiece. The unit of miner PT Merdeka Copper Gold sold 11.5 billion shares at 795 rupiah each, the top of a marketed range, including about 550 million shares in additional allotment.

The company is the second nickel miner to list in Jakarta this month, as firms take advantage of surging interest in the industry to raise funds through equity sales. The sector is at the heart of President Joko Widodo’s vision of developing an end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain locally, a plan that is starting to take shape as global carmakers like Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. invest onshore.

PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, known as Harita Nickel, is up 16% since it listed on April 12. The firm also sold shares at the top of the range in an offering that raised 10 trillion rupiah. 

Read More: Booming Jakarta IPO Market Leaves Major Venues Behind: ECM Watch

Merdeka plans to use proceeds from the IPO to repay a $300 million loan facility, with the rest going toward working capital including the development of a high-pressure acid leaching plant on Sulawesi island. The facility will have the capacity to produce 120,000 tons a year. 

–With assistance from Fathiya Dahrul.

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