Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Maxis Bhd., Malaysia’s biggest mobile-phone operator, raised the minimum price sought for the country’s largest initial public offering after its shares were oversubscribed by investors.

Shares of the Kuala Lumpur-based wireless operator will probably be sold for at least 5 ringgit apiece, compared with the previous minimum price of 4.80 ringgit, according to an e- mail from arranger CIMB Investment Bank Bhd. today. The top end of the range was left unchanged at 5.50 ringgit, meaning the sale may raise 12.4 billion ringgit ($3.7 billion) for the seller, billionaire Ananda Krishnan’s Maxis Communications Bhd.

The offering, valued at more than double Petronas Gas Bhd.’s record 1995 IPO, may help Krishnan invest in faster- growing markets as wireless demand slows at home, where mobile subscriptions exceed the nation’s population of 28 million. The sale underscores the increase in investor appetite for stocks as equity markets from Malaysia to China and India climb back to levels preceding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

“These share sales are a healthy signal,” said Allan Yu, who helps manage $4.2 billion at Manila-based Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. “People are willing to take more risks because of the improving economic conditions.”

Healthy Signal

China Minsheng Banking Corp. and Sands China Ltd. are pursuing multibillion-dollar IPOs, according to people familiar with the plans, while China Merchants Securities Co. has said it’s planning to raise as much as 11.1 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in an initial share sale in Shanghai.

Maxis accounts for about 40 percent of the Malaysia’s mobile-phone market. The offering values Maxis at as much 41.25 billion ringgit, which would make it the fourth-largest company on the Malaysian stock exchange after Sime Darby Bhd., Malayan Banking Bhd. and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

The indicative price range is reasonable, said Pankaj Kumar, who manages 1.9 billion ringgit of assets as chief investment officer at Kurnia Insurans (Malaysia) Bhd., and is bidding for Maxis shares. “Anything above that would be expensive.”

The wireless operator, which competes with Digi.Com Bhd and Celcom Malaysia Bhd., plans to spend 75 percent of its annual profit for dividend payments, according to a prospectus last month. On Oct. 28, Digi.Com said it will raise its dividend payout ratio to 80 percent next year from 75 percent this year.

Slowing Market

Maxis may rely on dividend payments or expansion in the Internet market to attract investors as wireless revenue growth slows in Malaysia. The number of mobile-phone subscriptions exceeds the nation’s population by about 4 percent, according to the latest estimates on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s Web site.

“The mobile-phone penetration rate is high in Malaysia but there is still scope to grow in the broadband sector,” said Pankaj, who expects the final price to be at 5.20 ringgit apiece. He said he considers Maxis a “dividend-play” stock.

Maxis would be fairly priced at 15 to 16 times estimated 2010 earnings, or 5.30 ringgit to 5.80 ringgit a share, Jeffrey Tan, an analyst at OSK Research Sdn. in Malaysia, wrote in a report on Oct. 29.

Institutional investors have until 5 p.m. Hong Kong time to bid for the shares, according to today’s e-mail. “Any investors with limits below 5 ringgit a share should expect to miss the transaction.”

Maxis last week said it may revise the proposed offer after demand from institutions exceeded the number of shares available for sale. Individual investors are being offered 5.20 ringgit apiece for the shares, with the final pricing to be set on Nov. 9, Maxis said in a prospectus published on Oct. 28.

To contact the reporter on this story: Soraya Permatasari in Kuala Lumpur at soraya@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 22:24 EST