KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): G Capital Bhd is planning a joint venture (JV) to develop mini-hydropower projects in Sabah, which could see the JV raise funds of no less than RM3 billion for the first 200 MW.

It would be G Capital's first foray into the renewable energy segment in East Malaysia.

Its wholly owned unit, CM Creative Itinerary Sdn Bhd, on Tuesday (Oct 18) inked a JV and shareholders' agreement with Innoprise Synergy Sdn Bhd and Kerap Hijau Sdn Bhd.

"The parties have agreed to collectively pool their resources, leading to fundraising of no less than RM3 billion in developing the first 200 MW projects, which may be financed via a combination of fundraising exercises and bank borrowings," said G Capital in its filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday.

Innoprise is a wholly owned subsidiary of Innoprise Corp Sdn Bhd, which is majority owned by the Board of Trustees of Yayasan Sabah.

Meanwhile, Kerap Hijau, which is involved in the operations of general facilities producing electric energy and general trading, is wholly owned by Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

The proposed JV involves Pandikar transferring 80 Kerap Hijau shares to CM Creative for RM80 and 20 Kerap Hijau Shares to Innoprise for RM20.

This means G Capital via CM Creative will hold a 80% stake in Kerap Hijau, while the remaining 20% stake will be controlled by Innoprise.

In a press release, Pandikar, who is the chairman of Innoprise and representative of Yayasan Sabah, said that the JV has identified five hydropower schemes with an estimated capacity of 65.3 MW.

"Estimated to deploy RM1 billion, the completion of such mini-hydropower schemes brings solutions to the energy crisis faced by Sabahan on top of an annual revenue yield of RM85 million to the shareholders," he said.

The five hydropower schemes are Sg Bayoyo (Sg Bunsit) hydropower scheme, Sg Rayoh hydropower scheme, Sg Mokodou hydropower scheme, Sg Wariu hydropower scheme and Sg Panataran (Sg Melangkap) hydropower scheme.

Pandikar further added that the JV is setting paths to raise RM3 billion to develop the mini-hydropower projects.

G Capital executive director Datuk Yap Yee Ping said in the same press release that with the JV, the company is confident of successfully executing the fundraising exercise to develop the mini-hydropower projects.

G Capital is involved in the businesses of passenger vehicle chartering and renewable energy sector.

Shares of G Capital were up two sen or 3.31% at 62.5 sen on Tuesday, giving it a market value of RM198.61 million. The stock has risen 22.55% since the beginning of this year.