Shares of Felda Global surged 20% in their trading debut on Thursday, after the Malaysian palm oil giant became the world's second largest IPO after Facebook.

Within the first 30 minutes of its debut, Felda Global shares were trading as high as 5.46 ringgit, 20% premium to the IPO reference price of 4.55.

Felda raised US$3.1bn in Asia's biggest IPO this year. The institutional component of the IPO was subscribed by more than 30 times. Despite strong demand, the IPO was priced slightly below the top of a 4.00-4.65 ringgit range.

A 36% drop in Felda Global's first quarter profit had initially unnerved some investors.

Felda gives global investors a proxy to the rapidly expanding palm oil sector in Malaysia.

Felda Global's estates, with an annual average productivity of 19.9 tons per hectare, rank the third lowest among the major Malaysian plantations firms, after Tradewinds Plantation Bhd and Boustead Holdings Bhd.

Malaysian stock market has risen ~5% this year, outperforming rise of less than 1.55% in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index but lagging Thailand and the Philippines.

Felda Global's appeal has attracted cornerstone investors - including Qatar Holding LCC, a unit of the Gulf nation's sovereign wealth fund, and Hong Kong's Value Partners. They will be locked into the shares for six months.

CIMB Investment Bank, Maybank Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley acted as joint global coordinators for Felda Global's IPO, with JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank worked as joint book-runners.

Felda Global plans to use the bulk of the IPO proceeds to buy more plantations in Southeast Asia and Africa and boost its refining and market business.