Malakoff Bhd, Malaysia's largest independent power producer, is planning an initial public offering that may raise about US$1 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company, 51 percent owned by port operator and power producer MMC Corp, invited at least six banks to submit proposals for the IPO by June 18, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the process is private. The share sale may take place by the end of this year, they said.

Zainal Abidin Jalil, Malakoff's chief executive officer, wasn't immediately available to comment on the IPO plan when phoned at his office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Malakoff was publicly traded until it was acquired by MMC in 2007 for RM9.3 billion (US$2.9 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company has six power stations, and plans to expand overseas, according to its website. The IPO may value Malakoff at as much as US$3.5 billion, one person said.

Controlled by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, MMC said in May last year that it plans to list three units including Malakoff this year or next. The first to be listed, Gas Malaysia Bhd. surged as much as 15 percent on its first day of trading in Kuala Lumpur this week. The other unit MMC plans to list is Johor Port, which operates a port in southern Malaysia. -- Bloomberg