99 Speed Mart Retail made a strong debut on the Malaysian stock exchange on Monday, opening 12.1% higher at RM1.85 per share. This marked a successful listing for the country's largest mini-market chain, which raised RM2.36 billion ($542.8 million) in Malaysia's biggest IPO since 2017.

The stock climbed as much as 14.5% to RM1.89 in early trading before slightly retreating, while the local benchmark index (.KLSE) dropped around 0.5%.

Founded in 1987 by Lee as a traditional sundry store, 99 Speed Mart plans to use the proceeds from its initial public offering to expand aggressively. The company aims to open 250 new stores annually until 2027, increasing its store count from 2,526 as of December 31, 2023, to around 3,000.

Last week, 99 Speed Mart posted a significant 66.3% year-on-year increase in its second-quarter net profit, reaching RM125.5 million. Revenue also grew by 8.2% to RM2.4 billion, driven by higher sales from new stores and its expanding e-commerce platform.

This IPO marks the largest in Malaysia since Lotte Chemical Titan Holding's listing in 2017 and Southeast Asia's biggest since Amman Mineral Internasional's IPO in Indonesia last year. With proceeds from Malaysian IPOs doubling to $1.3 billion so far in 2024, 99 Speed Mart's successful debut signals strong momentum for future listings in the country.