40 Bumi Firms Marked for Listing

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bumpitera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) has identified at least 40 Bumiputera companies with the potential to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in the next two to three years.

Teraju chief executive officer Datuk Husni Salleh said some of these companies, groomed under its Skim Jejak Jaya Bumiputera (SJJB) programme, were in the final stages of listing after having obtained the approvals. They were only waiting for the right time to float their shares.

"We have companies that are ready to be listed, but of course it will depend on market conditions.

"Teraju has an ambitious target where we need to increase the market capitalisation (of Bumiputera public-listed companies) to between RM7 billion and RM10 billion in the next few years.

"This means we need to step up our efforts to identify Bumiputera companies with potential (to be listed)," he said at a briefing on the Bumiputera Empowerment Report Card 2015, here, yesterday.

The report was also presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Eleven companies from the SJJB programme have been listed on Bursa Malaysia so far. Two of them - Prestariang Bhd and Datasonic Bhd - have since entered The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (companies with market capitalisation of more than RM1 billion).

The other listed companies under SJJB are Handal Resources Bhd, Theta Edge Bhd, Cypark Resources Bhd, Malaysian Genomics Resources Centre, Century Software Bhd, Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, Carimin Petroleum Bhd, E.A. Technique (M) Bhd and Sedania Innovator Bhd.

The SJJB programme started in 2007 under the Finance Ministry. Teraju took over when the agency was set up in 2011, in collaboration with Ekuiti Nasional Bhd.

The combined market capitalisation of the SJJB companies as at August stood at RM5.5 billion, compared with RM1.93 billion when they were first listed.

In describing the plan as a game changer, Husni said the companies identified for listing would be provided with capacity-building assistance. This included incentives to lower the advisory, legal and consultancy costs involved in listing as well as negotiations with government-linked companies to extend concessions and contract periods.

Husni said many companies needed to be groomed before they were ready to list on Bursa Malaysia and some could become stronger entities through mergers and acquisitions.

Source: http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/12/116343/40-bumi-firms-marked-listing