KL Foodie owner Foodie Media signs IPO deal ahead of ACE listing

Foodie Media Berhad, which announced its plans to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia in June this year, has signed an underwriting deal with Maybank Investment Bank on 21 October for its upcoming IPO. 

Under the agreement, according to The Star, Maybank IB will underwrite 59.4 million new shares to be made available for application by the public and eligible persons. The bank is also the principal advisor, sponsor, and sole placement agent. Foodie Media filed to list on the ACE Market on 23 June, but its target IPO date has not been disclosed. 

The company's IPO comprises a public issue of 138 million new ordinary shares (15.5%), and an offer for sale of 112 million existing shares (12.6%). Based on its prospectus, Foodie Media aims to raise capital to expand its workforce, buying and renovating a live streaming building, and to acquire new equipment. Upon listing, The Edge notes that the company's CEO Nicholas Lim Pinn Yang will retain a 21.8% stake, his wife and COO Ang Rui Mei will have 15%, his brother and chief content officer Edward Lim Pinn Jian with 14.3%. Loob Ventures Holdings, a private venture entity by Loob Holding's Bryan Loo and partners, will exit after selling its entire 1.12% stake.

Back in 2022, Loob Ventures made a strategic investment into Good Foodie Media, marking Loob’s first entry into digital media space. While the monetary value of the investment was not shared, Loo, founder and CEO of Loob Holding said the move was a strategic one to “enable more SME players in the F&B industry to have affordable access to digital platforms”.

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Based on Foodie Media's June prospectus, the holding company currently has 35 brands under its belt, across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. This includes brands such as KL Foodie, Penang Foodie, Bangkok Foodie, Singapore Foodie, Johor Foodie, Visit Penang, Recipie, Malaysia Homie, Travel Rookie, Wau Post, Car Buddie, Sportie, Bestie and more. 

It primarily operates in the digital media publishing, KOL marketing, short-film drama marketing, affiliate commerce, and campaign management spaces. It gains revenue from service fees, advertisement breaks, sponsorship fees, and affiliate income. For FY2024, the company reported a revenue of RM23.95 million, compared to its previous year's revenue of RM16.76 million.

Foodie Media stated that its competitive strengths lie in having an established portfolio of brands with the largest combined follower base for lifestyle-focused digital content in Malaysia, and that it was well-positioned to capture opportunities in the rapidly growing digital media ad industry. It added that it has an expertise in creating and producing digital content with a customisable range of services. 

For its future plans, Foodie Media also intends to invest in software solutions with AI integrated functionalities, set up new brands to cater for live commerce selling, and produce its own short-film dramas to meet growing demand from customers for advertising through short-film dramas. 

Foodie Media, formerly Good Foodie Media, was first established in 2016 by founding trio of Nicholas Lim, Edward Lim and Ang Rui Mei, and sought to present local culinary stories to the global stage. The trio’s foray into the media business began with Penang Foodie, which took them across the breadth of the island in search of not only the forefront of the local culinary scene, but its storied food heritage as well. Not long after, the company expanded its reach the Klang Valley with the establishment of KL Foodie in 2018.

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