KUALA LUMPUR: Ekovest Bhd is proposing to place out up to 10 per cent of its total number of issued shares to partially fund the RM1.34 billion construction cost of Johor Bahru's Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link).
Ekovest Construction Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Ekovest, had on July 5, 2022 accepted the letter of award by Adil Permata Sdn Bhd, the appointed main contractor of Malaysia Rapid Transit System Sdn Bhd, to participate as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the RTS Link project.
The board fixed the issue price for the first tranche of the proposed private placement at 43.5 sen per Ekovest share to raise up to RM117.27 million.
As at June 30, 2023, the group's cash and bank balances (including investment funds and short term deposits) stood at RM675.34 million.
"While the company believes that the group's current cash and bank balances are adequate to meet the group's working capital requirements for its day-to-day operations, the private placement is also to introduce strategic and/or institutional investors to improve Ekovest's current shareholding mix," it said in a filing with Bursa Securities.
The majority of the monies raised will be used for construction project, while the remainder will be for general working capital and expenses for the exercise.
The RTS Link project includes, among others, the construction of a railway shuttle link measuring approximately four kilometers ("km") (Malaysia: 2.7 km and Singapore: 1.3 km) connecting Bukit Chagar, Johor Bahru and Woodlands Singapore.