Injection of landbank by Liew possible, says Eco World

KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World Development Group Bhd (EWD) is undertaking a review of its business plans, which includes possible injection of viable landbank or property development projects by its major shareholder, it said in a reply to Bursa Malaysia, which had queried the unusual market activity of its stock recently.

“Following the close of the mandatory takeover offer of the company by Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Maple Quay Sdn Bhd) and Liew Tian Xiong, the management is currently undertaking a review of the business, operations and future plans of EWD and its subsidiaries.

“Such review includes possible acquisition of additional viable landbank and/or property developments from third parties and/or from the major shareholders or persons connected to them, which may include any of those companies/assets held under Eco World Development,” said EWD in the reply.

Tian Xiong is the son of Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, president and chief executive officer of S P Setia Bhd. The Liew family is now a major shareholder of EWD, formerly Focal Aims Holdings Bhd.

According to EWD, any such acquisitions will be announced accordingly. To date, no decision on any corporate proposal has been made by its board of directors. It said that among the reasons why its share price has been hiking of late is due to positive speculation by the media on the business and affairs of the group.

EWD’s share price rose from RM2.70 on Dec 10 to close at RM4.36 yesterday.

“Pursuant to the announcement of the offer, there have been numerous articles and reports published by the media speculating on the business and affairs of the group. As highlighted, the company has not decided on any corporate proposal at this stage and is not aware of any corporate development relating to the group’s business and affairs that have not been previously announced,” it said.

Speculation in the market was largely positive and included possible share placements or asset injections into the company. Recent news reports also noted that EWD may be a stock to watch in 2014 due to its potential growth prospects.

“It is speculated that Liew Kee Sin will leave S P Setia much earlier than the contractual date in March 2015. That he will be injecting assets into EWD is one reason why the stock has been going up,” an analyst with Public Invest Research told The Edge Financial Daily.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 07, 2014.