Taiwanese garment manufacturer Grand Twins International says it will officially list and start trading on the Cambodia Stock Exchange (CSX) on May 8 after spending several weeks whipping up interest from local investors, whose appetite remains on the low side so far.

Stanley Shen, a spokesman for the garment maker, confirmed the listing date yesterday. Grand Twins will be the second company to go public on Cambodia’s relatively new bourse since the IPO of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority in 2012. The exchange was launched in 2011.

According to investor information released by Grand Twins International this week, the company will offer up to eight million shares to potential investors over the next two months in an effort to meet the self-imposed deadline.

Now, the tentative buy-in price, which is expected to be confirmed by March 28, ranges from $1.85 to $3.50 per share. In total, the shares for sale will equate to a 20 per cent chunk of the company.

With the assistance of underwriter Phnom Penh Securities, the firm starts rallying buyer interest today with a presentation at Phnom Penh’s Sofitel.

Today’s road show, as it's called in the industry, represents the second stage of Grand Twins International’s effort to go public after receiving initial approval for the offering from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia on January 16.

Between now and the May 8 deadline, Grand Twins must establish the final share price by considering private offers from large potential investors, a process called book building. After that, the firm will start sourcing and receiving non-binding commitments from all potential investors to purchase shares once they are made available at the set price in May.

Funds raised through the IPO will be used to pay off debts, cover the costs of listing and fund the company’s future expansion plans, according to the material presented to investors at today’s presentation.

Henry Chen, financial controller of QMI Group – Grand Twins International’s Taiwanese parent company – told the Post in January the company’s expansion plans include a factory that will cost $10 million,

Grand Twins International employs 5,600 people at its factory in Por Sen Chey district, where 65 different production lines made up of 3,450 sewing machines produce apparel for sporting goods giants Adidas and Reebok, among others.

Stephen Hsu, CEO of Phnom Penh Securities, said the listing date is still realistic.

“Currently we have 200 interested investors in the IPO [road show], with another 50 registering their interest for Thursday’s [today's] event."

Hsu said the listing date could shift one or two days either side, depending on confirmation from CSX officials.

Soleil Lamun, deputy director for the market operations department at the exchange, said the deadline remains tentative and is dependent on their ability to drum up investor interest.

“We have not set a concrete date for the listing yet,” Lamun said. “They need to complete two stages, book building and subscriptions before they are eligible to list and commence trades.”

The deputy director was unable to speculate on where the final share price might land, but said the garment maker’s listing is a good sign for the local bourse, and that CSX officials had been waiting a long time for it to happen.

“For 2014, we are optimistic that another company will list on the CSX,” Lamun said.