Glostrext Bhd executive director Tan Ah Huat, managing director Dr Lee Sieng Kai, M&A Securities Sdn Bhd managing director (corporate finance) Datuk Bill Tan and head of corporate finance Gary Ting at the signing ceremony on June 7.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): Geotechnical instrumentation service provider Glostrext Bhd has signed an underwriting agreement with M&A Securities Sdn Bhd for its listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd.

In a statement on Wednesday (June 7), Glostrext said the initial public offering (IPO) involves a public issue of 105.83 million new shares, representing 26% of its enlarged share capital, and an offer for sale of 16.28 million existing shares by way of private placement to selected investors.

Of the 105.83 million issue shares, the group said 20.35 million issue shares will be made available to the Malaysian public via balloting, 10.18 million issue shares for its eligible directors and employees as well as persons who have contributed to the success of Glostrext under pink form allocations, while the remaining 75.3 million issue shares are reserved for private placement to selected investors.

Glostrext said M&A Securities will underwrite a total of 30.53 million issue shares made available to the Malaysian public and pink form allocations.

The group provides piling, structural and geotechnical-related services, covering instrumentation, testing and monitoring services to construction projects as well as completed buildings and infrastructure. It has more than 30 years of presence in Malaysia and 14 years in Singapore.

Glostrext said its notable construction projects for service engagements included Petronas Twin Towers and Merdeka PNB 118 in Kuala Lumpur; Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, and Intra Airside Road Connection, Second Parallel Taxiway and Fire Station No 2 for Changi East at Changi Airport in Singapore; and Naga 3 Integrated Entertainment Complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The group’s managing director Dr Lee Sieng Kai said the IPO exercise will enable Glostrext to tap into the equity capital market to raise funds to expand its structural and ground instrumentation and monitoring business into Singapore.

He said Glostrext is focusing on promoting the off-site structural and ground instrumentation and monitoring services using its Glostrext WiNA platform.

“Such offering is in line with the current trend as many businesses and companies are seeking automation to, amongst others, increase operational efficiency and reduce reliance on manpower,” Lee said.

“With our listing and leveraging on our success and existing presence in Singapore as well as our experience in the provision of structural and ground instrumentation and monitoring services in Malaysia, we intend to expand our service offerings in Singapore by offering structural and ground instrumentation and monitoring services as part of our business growth and expansion plans.

“This is also in line with the requirements on structural and ground instrumentation and monitoring for all construction of buildings and infrastructure in Singapore which was made mandatory in 2008 under the Building Control Regulations 2003, as we believe that we will be well-positioned to benefit from these requirements to secure sales and further grow our business in Singapore,” he added.

Meanwhile, M&A Securities managing director of corporate finance Datuk Bill Tan said the outlook of the geotechnical instrumentation and testing industry is expected to record growth as the economy of Singapore and Malaysia strengthens after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic subsides over time.

“An increase in public and private spending on infrastructure development in the region is expected to drive the growth of the geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring market,” Tan said.

“In Malaysia, with the completion of MRT1 and 2, MRT Corp Development Building Control has released the “Instrumentation & Monitoring Guidelines for Works Within MRT Railway Protection Zone”, December 2018 Edition with respect to the needs of monitoring.

“As demand for geotechnical instrumentation and testing services is expected to grow, Glostrext is well-positioned to capture these business opportunities,” he added.

M&A Securities is the adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for the IPO exercise.