EATech says new party may acquire controlling stake in group

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): EA Technique Bhd (EATech), which is in the midst of preparing its financial regularisation plan, said there could be a potential entry of a new largest shareholder in the Practice Note 17 (PN17) group.

The marine vessels operator said it is in discussions with a party that could subscribe to the group's new securities, which would result in the party acquiring a controlling stake in the group.

“Pursuant thereto, should the shareholdings of the potential offeror and persons acting in concert (PACs) in EATech increase from below 33% to above 33%, the said party will be obligated to undertake a mandatory general offer (MGO) for the remaining shares of EATech not held by the offeror and PACs,” EATech said in a bourse filing.

If the two parties reach an agreement, it will still need to be approved by Bursa Malaysia Securities and the group's shareholders, the group added.

There has been speculation in the market that businessman Tan Sri Rashid Manaf, who is one of the founders of Eco World Development Group Bhd, could take up a substantial stake in EATech.

The Edge Malaysia, in its Feb 6-12 edition, reported that Rashid might be acquiring shares from Sindora Bhd, a unit of Johor Corp (JCorp).

Through Sindora, JCorp holds a 50.05% stake in EATech. JCorp is also an indirect shareholder of EATech through the 2.43% stake held by Kulim (M) Bhd.

EATech slipped into PN17 status in February last year, as its shareholders’ equity of RM5.96 million as at Dec 31, 2021 was less than 50% of its share capital of RM179.76 million.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2022, EATech narrowed its net loss to RM2.94 million from RM45.37 million a year earlier, amid lower depreciation, gain on disposal of vessels and lower foreign exchange losses.

Nine-month revenue, however, decreased to RM111.91 million from RM124.57 million mainly due to expiry of certain contracts.

EATech’s shares closed up 5% or 1.5 sen at 31.5 sen on Tuesday (Feb 21), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM167.11 million. The counter has risen 85.29% year to date.