This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 16, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Industrial automation solutions provider Greatech Technology Bhd has inked an underwriting agreement with its sole underwriter, Alliance Investment Bank Bhd (Alliance IB), en route to its listing on Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market.

Alliance IB is the principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent for Greatech’s initial public offering (IPO).

Greatech’s IPO involves 119.75 million shares, of which 18.78 million shares will be made available to the Malaysian public and 9.39 million shares for eligible directors, employees and business associates; 22.72 million shares will be offered via private placement to selected investors, while the remaining 68.86 million shares will be set aside for bumiputera investors.

In a statement yesterday, Greatech chief executive officer EK Tan said proceeds from the IPO will be used to expand the company’s production capacity and business operations.

“Our expansion will allow us to progress beyond our past success in providing industrial automation solutions for the solar, semiconductor and consumer electronics sectors to new sectors such as the battery segment.

“We believe that we have multiple opportunities to stake a greater claim in the global industrial automation industry as businesses worldwide, especially multinational corporations, have started to embrace Industry 4.0 in pursuit of higher efficiency,” said Tan.