Gabungan AQRS gets green light from SC to list

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has given construction and property development outfit Gabungan AQRS Bhd the go-ahead to list on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd, it announced in a statement on Wednesday, July 6.

The listing exercise will see the group floating 62 million new shares with a par value of 25 sen each and offer 30 million new shares with a par value of 25 sen each for sale.

Furthermore, Gabungan AQRS will acquire the entire issued and paid-up capital of four companies, namely civil engineering construction companies Gabungan Strategik Sdn Bhd, Pembinaan Megah Ikhlas Sdn Bhd and Motibina Sdn Bhd and property developer AQRS The Building Company Sdn Bhd for RM73.38 million which will be satisfied through a share swap.

Thus, the group's civil engineering operations will be the group's main driver while its property development company will complement its business, it said.

"As an enlarged group with extensive exposure and depth of experience in particular construction, Gabungan AQRS is therefore well positioned to seize the opportunities available in the construction and property development industries in the country," said CEO Alvin Ng Chun Kooi.

"Our public listing is therefore timely for us to capitalise on our synergistic benefits and economies of scale to ride on the wave of the exciting and promising prospects that construction and property development offer," he added.

Some of the projects undertaken by the group's civil engineering construction companies include upgrading and construction works on stretches of highways such as the Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway and North Klang Valley Expressway interchange and tollbooth, building schools as well as buildings for government agencies.

Meanwhile, its property projects include "Contours" in Hulu Klang, Ampang, which contains 41 units of courtyard villas with built-ups ranging from 4,364 to 7,459 sq ft and land areas from 4,487 to 6,597 sq ft. Prices start at RM2.5 million per unit.

Its newest development is the Altium, a mixed-use development made of three components: namely, The Prime, a 30-storey Grade A office tower with a gross floor area of 300,000 sq ft that is Green Building Index (GBI) Gold-certified; the 136-unit residential CEO Suites; and its retail portion The Pulse, a 3-storey commercial podium with a GBI certification.