Real estate executive Joseph Lau now Crest Builder’s second-largest shareholder

• Lau acquired 23.4 million new shares through a private placement at 50 sen apiece, giving him an 11.1% stake in Crest Builder, according to a Monday exchange filing.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Datuk Joseph Lau (pictured), the head of the developer behind Desa ParkCity township, has emerged as the second largest shareholder of construction firm Crest Builder Holdings Bhd (KL:CRESBLD).

Lau acquired 23.4 million new shares through a private placement at 50 sen apiece, giving him an 11.1% stake in Crest Builder, according to a Monday exchange filing. He took up nearly half of the shares offered under the share placement.

He is the chief executive officer and director of Perdana ParkCity Sdn Bhd, the master developer of the Desa ParkCity township and the property arm of timber-to-automotive conglomerate Samling Group.

Crest Builder’s largest shareholder, SC Yong Holdings Sdn Bhd—a private entity owned by the Yong family—saw its stake diluted to 33.24% from 43.23% following the placement. Yong Shang Ming remains the managing director of Crest Builder.

The private placement, which was completed on Monday, raised RM24.3 million for Crest Builder to repay borrowings and procure building materials.

Of the total proceeds, RM19.44 million is allocated for the partial repayment of a revolving credit facility, while RM3.93 million will be used to purchase building materials for the Kiaramas and Desa ParkCity construction projects.

At the end of March, Crest Builder’s total borrowings amounted to RM602.43 million against cash balances of RM89.49 million.

Shares of Crest Builder were down 2.5 sen or 4.2% at 57 sen on Monday’s closing, valuing the group at RM128.2 million. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen 5%.

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