Solarvest to go regional
Company plans to venture into Taiwan and Vietnam
KUALA LUMPUR: Solarvest Holdings Bhd, which is en route to an ACE Market listing, plans to expand into foreign markets within the next two years.
Slated to be the first solar-related engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) provider to be listed on Bursa Malaysia, Solarvest has shortlisted Taiwan and Vietnam as its potential foreign markets.
The company is in talks with local companies in the two countries as joint-venture partners.
It also planned to expand its business into the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia, having set up an office in Johor to cover businesses from Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor.
Solarvest aimed to invest Rm3mil from its IPO proceeds for its geographical expansion, of which Rm2.3mil is for its Taiwan and Vietnam ventures while RM700,000 will be used to expand into the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia.
According to Solarvest chief executive officer Davis Chong, Malaysia will continue to be Solarvest’s main market.
The geographical expansion is expected to diversify the company’s income base which is concentrated in the northern and central regions of the country.
“Our stronghold and core business activities will remain in the country.we are looking to diversify our business with a revenue ratio of 70% from Malaysia and 30% abroad,” he told reporters after the launch of Solarvest’s prospectus by Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin here yesterday.
Solarvest planned to raise Rm34.6mil from its initial public offering (IPO) at an issue price of 35 sen per share.
It is slated to be listed on Nov 26.
The IPO entailed a public issue of about 98.83 million shares in the group, representing 25.3% of its enlarged share capital.
Upon listing, Solarvest will have market capitalisation of Rm136.7mil.
Of the Rm34.6mil amount to be raised, about Rm19.20mil or 55.5% would be used for the group’s working capital for daily operations and future projects.
Solarvest also planned to purchase machinery and equipment as well as upgrade its information technology software and hardware.
The remaining IPO proceeds would be used to repay bank borrowings (Rm5mil or 14.5%) and listing expenses (Rm3.4mil or 9.8%).
Moving forward, Chong said Solarvest would focus on being a turnkey EPCC provider for large-scale solar plant projects.
The solar sector is expanding due to the increasing interest in renewable energy.
“The upward growth trajectory of the renewable energy industry will undoubtedly provide Solarvest new growth opportunities, especially in the large scale solar photovoltaic segment.
“In addition, all solar contractors for engineering, construction and commissioning of Large-scale Solar three projects are now required to be 100% local.
“Malaysian solar contractors, including Solarvest, are poised to benefit from this positive development,” said Chong.